The Importance of the Battle of Bailén

Early on the morning of July 16, 1808, Captain-General Francisco Javier Castaños of the Army of Andalusia launched a surprise attack against the divided forces of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s Army of the Gironde. After three grueling days of combat, French Gen. Pierre Dupont requested a truce and opened negotiations outside the village of Bailén. Beginning on July 22, 17,000 French soldiers — encircled, exhausted, and out of supplies — surrendered their arms, their flags, and three imperial eagles to the Spanish — men who had first shouldered a musket scarcely