“Eating [thin] soup with a knife”: French Organization and logistics in the Prefecture of Jerez (1810-1812)

Authors

  • Jean-Marc Lafon Centre de Recherches Interdisciplinaires en Sciences Humaines et Sociales – Université Paul-Valéry, Montpellier III

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v6i12.347

Keywords:

Peninsular War, Napoleonic logistics, Counterinsurgency, blockade of Cádiz, French privateering

Abstract

This study strives to Napoleonic occupation tasks, supplying and daily life during the Peninsular War, using French sources partly original (National Archives and Military Archives of Vincennes) and also few Spanish sources (Archivo Histórico Nacional, Archivo de Marina D. Álvaro de Bazán) in this purpose.

Studying the operational display of the First Corps (Army of Midi), initially directed by Marshal Victor, in the prefecture of Jerez between February 1810 and August 1812 give us new visions of the blockade of Cadiz and the fierce fight against the Resistance of the Serranos. For example, we bring unknown facts about French deceived attempts to take the port city, in this times the mayor symbol of the Insurgent Cause. Napoleon was hardly disappointed by the longtime ineffective bombardment by means of gigantic mortars smelted in Sevilla (one of them always present in London, in front of the Horse Guard building) from the Matagorda Castle. So he wanted to threaten its crowded inhabitants with incendiary rockets, which were imitated of the William Congreve's invention, successful experimented against the fleet and the capital of Denmark, in 1807. This way, too, would be a failure in the spring of 1812, and it was the last demonstration of Imperator's interest for the Spanish theater. Otherwise, to contain the insurrection in the Serrania de Ronda and to face his militarization, since the spring of 1812the French military authorities surrounded her by a fortified line, an innovatory counterinsurgency solution reproduced during the Wars of Decolonization.

Moreover, the analysis of it logistical system shows the failure in pacifying this province, whereas this situation appears almost exceptional in the Andalusia occupied. The First Corps endured larges backlog arrears suffered from food shortage by the end of 1811. Since the next spring, the French soldiers only received a half-ration, soon reduced to a quarter. Their fallen moral appeared to many signs: discouraged letters to closely related, protest songs (one of them reproduced and analyzed here) and a crescent desertion, facilitated by the authorities of Cadiz and recognized by Marshal Soult himself.

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Author Biography

  • Jean-Marc Lafon, Centre de Recherches Interdisciplinaires en Sciences Humaines et Sociales – Université Paul-Valéry, Montpellier III
    Agrégé y doctor en Historia, antiguo becario de la Fondation Napoléon, Jean-Marc Lafon es investigador asociado de CRISES EA 4424, en la Universidad de Montpellier III. Entre sus libros, se puede destacar L’Andalousie et Napoléon. Contre-insurrection, collaboration et résistances dans le midi de l’Espagne (1808-1812), Nouveau Monde/Fondation Napoléon, 2007, L’Espagne aux XIXe et XXesiècles, Ellipses, 2007 y Guerres et conflits dans le monde au XIXe siècle (1792-1914), Ellipses, 2013. También ha publicado unas treinta ponencias y artículos, en Francia y en España, sobre la Guerra de la Independencia. Sus principales líneas de investigación se centran en la adaptación del ejército napoleónico frente a la España sublevada, el análisis crítico de los testimonios imperiales y el estudio de las diferentes violencias de guerra.

References

Siglas

AGMAB: Archivo General de Marina Álvaro de Bazán (El Viso del Marqués)

AHN: Archivo Histórico Nacional (Madrid)

AN: Archives Nationales (Paris)

SHD-DAT: Service historique de la Défense, Département Armée de terre (Vincennes)

SHD-DM : Service historique de la Défense, Département Marine (Vincennes)

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Published

2017-12-30

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 12 (2017): Arquitectura e instituciones militares: política, cultura y sociedad

Section

Estudios

License

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How to Cite

“Eating [thin] soup with a knife”: French Organization and logistics in the Prefecture of Jerez (1810-1812). (2017). Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 6(12), 149-172. https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v6i12.347

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