Franco-Spanish War 1823

A joint intervention in Spain, after the liberal revolt led by General Rafael del Riego, was initially proposed by Tsar Alexander I of Russia in 1820 but the suggestion was strenuously opposed by the Austrians and British. The question of an intervention to restore the absolutist King Ferdinand VII of Spain to the throne was raised again at the Congress of Verona in 1822, at which time the French under King Louis XVIII were authorized to intervene by a majority of the powers (Austria, Prussia, Russia) with only Great Britain objecting. However, opposition to war from the French king as well as the prime minister delayed a decision to act on the authorization. Months of pressure from royalists within the French leadership, favoring war with Spain proved decisive and the king and prime minister relented.

On January 28, 1823, Louis XVIII informed the Chamber of Deputies of the decision for war with Spain. A French army of around 60,000 troops was mobilized (the “hundred thousand sons of Saint Louis”) under the command of Louis Antoine de Bourbon, the Duke of Angouleme. On April 7, 1823, the French army crossed the Pyrenees into Spain meeting little resistance from the Basques and Catalonians. The French invasion had the active support of some Spaniards and the tacit cooperation of the majority.

The Duke of Angouleme dispatched a force to besiege San Sebastian while he launched an attack on Madrid, the Spanish capital. Riego and the Cortes (the Spanish national assembly) – along with the imprisoned Ferdinand VII – withdrew to Cadiz. Meanwhile the military commander in Madrid secretly capitulated to the French, and fled to France. The leaderless Spanish garrison Madrid failed to keep out the French, who seized the city and installed a Spanish-chosen regent pending the return of Ferdinand VII. From there, the French moved south to besiege the liberal army under Riego at Cadiz. At the Battle of Trocadero on August 31st, the Spanish defenders were defeated and the fortified island, within the harbor of Cadiz, fell to French forces. After securing the fort of Santa Petri, on September 20th, the French began a bombardment of the city of Cadiz on September 23rd. The destructive effects of this bombardment as well as a revolt by the regiment of San Marcial, led to the Cortes to dissolve itself, surrender the city and release Ferdinand VII to the French to be restored to the throne on or about September 30th.

Renouncing his prior promise of amnesty for the revolutionaries and the 1812 constitution, Ferdinand VII ordered ruthless measures of reprisal against them. In November, the Duke of Angouleme returned to France, leaving behind an occupying force of 45,000. The last French soldiers were not withdrawn until 1828.

References

Kohn, 175-6; Clodfelter, 284-5; COW1; Wright, 354-5.

Thomas Wright. The History of France: from the Earliest Period to the Present Times, Volume III. London Printing and Publishing. 1856.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

Western Europe

Belligerents

France, Spain

Dispute

Governance

Initiation Date

January 28, 1823

Termination Date

November 13, 1823

Duration

7 months, 1 week
(221 days)

Outcome

Imposed Settlement
(French victory)

Fatalities

Total: 6,500
France: 3,000
Spain: 3,500

Magnitude

3.5