Battle of Talavera de la Reina
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The Battle of Talavera took place on July 28 1809, when having driven Marshal Soult's French army from Portugal, General Sir Arthur Wellesley's 20,000 British troops joined forces with 33,000 Spanish troops under General Cuesta and marched up the river Tagus valley to Talavera, 70 miles south-west of Madrid.
Here they encountered 50,000 French under Marshals Victor and Sebastiani, with the French king of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte, in nominal command. The British bore the entire weight of this hard-fought set-piece battle, for which the Spaniards were untrained, and withstood all of the French attacks at a cost of 6,200 killed or wounded. The French lost 7,390 killed or wounded. Many of the wounded on both sides were burnt to death when the dry grass caught fire. To avoid an immediate conflict with Marshal Soult's advancing army, Wellesley reatreated into Portugal again. After this battle he was created Viscount Wellington.
See also
- The Peninsular War