8 June 1813 – Southern Spain – Merida Campaign

 

Map of Europe

 

This map shows the location of the five campaign areas. 

Each square is a military region.  

The rear base of each army group is shown.  

The stars show the location of previous phases.  

The colour indicates which side won.  

 

This is the 84^th phase since the campaign started in April 2009.  

It is the 12^th in the sixth revision which started in June 2020 

 

The white star shows the location of Merida

 

Map of Spain

This map shows the location of the four army groups in Spain.  

Each square is a military district.  

Nine squares is a military region.  

The stars show the location of previous campaigns fought in Spain. 

The colour of the star indicates which side won.  

 

The white star shows the location of Merida

 

There are two allied armies in Spain

British army at Oporto

Spanish army at Seville

Their objective is to drive the French out of Spain

 

General Giron commands the Spanish army

They are concentrated in the Seville region

Their objective is to advance into the Madrid region and engage the French

 

Marshal Suchet commands the Fifth French army

They are concentrated in the Madrid region

Their objective is to march south and defeat the Spanish army

 

This map shows the current location of the four armies.
The colour of stars indicated which army has won the previous campaign phases.    

 

Map of South Spain

This map shows the location of the French and Spanish army.  

Each square is a military district.  

Nine squares is a military region.  

The stars show the location of previous campaigns fought in Spain. 

The colour of the star indicates which side won

 

There are three regions in Southern Spain

Lisbon Region (on the left) is held by the Portuguese army

Valencia Region (on the right) is the held by irregular Spanish forces        

Seville Region is the disputed area in the middle

 

This map shows the current location of the French and Spanish armies

Seville Region

This map shows the location of the French and Spanish army. 

Each square is a military district.  

Nine squares is a military region.  

The stars show the location of previous campaigns fought in Spain. 

The colour of the star indicates which side won

 

This map is used for strategic (planning) movement.

Merida/Toledo District

This map shows the campaign area

It covers the area between Merida and Toledo

The district border is in the middle of the map

 

It shows the location of each French and Spanish corps.

It also shows depots and detached brigades

Each square is a 2x2 foot scenic square.  

Nine squares is a wargames table.  

Nine squares is also a military district.   

 

This map is used for tactical (daily) movement

 

The Spanish objective is to hold the city of Merida

The French objective is to defeat the Spanish army

 

Campaign Diary

01 Feb 1813           Austria, Britain, Prussia, Russia and Spain declared war on France

04 Feb 1813          Spanish army operational n Saville region

28 Feb 1813           Fifth French army operational in Madrid Region

09 Mar 1813           Start of Toledo campaign phase

13 Mar 1813           Spanish win Toledo campaign phase

20 Apr 1813            Start of Cuidad Real campaign phase

30 Apr 1813            French win Cuidad Real campaign phase

08 Jun 1813            Start of Merida campaign phase            

 

Fifth French Army

Marshal Suchet

37^th French corps

38^th French corps

39^th Vistula corps

40^th French corps

41^st Baden corps

42^nd Polish corps

43^rd French corps

44^th Westphalian corps

45^th Italian corps

 

Each corps has four infantry brigades, one cavalry brigade and corps artillery.    

144,000 infantry, 9000 cavalry, 270 guns

 

Spanish Army

General Giron

1^st Spanish corps

2^nd Spanish corps

3^rd Spanish corps

4^th Spanish corps

5^th Spanish corps

6^th Spanish corps

7^th Spanish corps

8^th Spanish corps

9^th Spanish corps

 

1^st, 2^nd, 4^th and 7^th corps have four infantry and one cavalry brigades, plus corps artillery

3^rd, 5^th, 6^th, 8^th and 9^th corps have three infantry brigades and corps artillery

There are also 12 militia brigades, one in each town

 

144,000 infantry, 24,000 militia, 4000 cavalry, 270 guns

 

Reference

The campaign diary contains comprehensive details of the whole campaign.   The labels on the right are an index to various parts of the campaign.

 

01 - Introduction to the1813 campaign

02 - Five campaign areas

50 - Introduction to the campaign in southern Spain

51 - Fifth French Army order of battle

52 - Spanish Army order of battle

53 - Daily diary for the campaign in southern Spain

54 - Battle reports of all battles fought in southern Spain

55 - Summary of campaign in southern Spain