The Cardedeu order of battle lists the troops that fought in the Battle of Cardedeu (16 December 1808) and several other battles fought between June and December in the Spanish province of Catalonia during the Peninsular War. In February 1808, Imperial French forces seized Barcelona on 29 February and Sant Ferran Castle on 15 March as well as other fortresses in Spain. The Dos de Mayo Uprising broke out when the Spanish people found that Emperor Napoleon had deposed the Spanish royal family and set up his brother Joseph Bonaparte as their new king. The 12,000 Imperial French soldiers under Guillaume Philibert Duhesme occupying Catalonia were beaten at the Battles of El Bruch and Gerona the following June. Though Duhesme was reinforced by another French division, the Spanish defeated him again at the Second Siege of Gerona in July and August. With Duhesme blockaded in Barcelona, Napoleon appointed Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr as commander of the VII Corps, added two divisions and other troops to his force, and ordered him to relieve Barcelona. Saint-Cyr succeeded in this task, as well as winning at Roses, Cardedeu and Molins de Rei in December.
Imperial French order of battle On 10 October 1808, the VII Corps numbered 42,382 soldiers, of whom 4,948 men were in the hospital and 1,302 were detached. However, not all its assigned troops had joined by that date. Note that the Observation Corps became part of VII Corps when Saint-Cyr assumed command. It is probable that the corps counted over 50,000 men. Joseph Chabran's division was made up of veteran French units. The Provisional Cavalry regiments were created by assembling the depot squadrons, all conscripts, from as many as four different regiments. Honoré Charles Reille's division was a mass of second-class units cobbled together from National Guards, provisional battalions, Swiss, and a "French" regiment from recently annexed Tuscany. The Neapolitans were universally considered the worst troops in Europe. On the other hand, the divisions of Joseph Souham and Domenico Pino were composed of crack troops.
+VII Corps of General Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr on 10 October 1808 Corps Division Strength Unit Strength Observation CorpsGeneral of DivisionGuillaume Philibert Duhesme 1st DivisionGeneral of DivisionJoseph Chabran Aug: 6,045 2nd Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion 610 7th Line Infantry Regiment, 1st & 2nd Battalions 1,785 16th Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion 789 37th Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion 656 56th Line Infantry Regiment, 4th Battalion 833 93rd Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion 792 2nd Swiss Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion 580 2nd DivisionGeneral of DivisionGiuseppe Lechi Aug: 4,596 2nd Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion 740 4th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion 587 5th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion 806 Italian Velites Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion 519 1st Neapolitan Infantry Regiment, 1st & 2nd Battalions 1,944 Cavalry BrigadeGeneral of BrigadeBertrand Bessières Aug: 825 3rd Provisional Cuirassier Regiment 409 3rd Provisional Chasseur Regiment 416 Cavalry BrigadeGeneral of BrigadeFrançois Xavier de Schwarz Aug: 892 Prince Royal Italian Chasseur Regiment 504 Neapolitan Chasseur Regiment 388 Corps Artillery Aug: 356 Artillery & train companies 356 Observation Corps Total Aug: 12,714Nov: 10,000 - VII CorpsGeneral of DivisionLaurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr 3rd DivisionGeneral of DivisionHonoré Charles Reille Aug: 8,370Nov: 5,612 32nd Light Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion 1,100? 16th Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion 840? 56th Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion 840? 113th Line Infantry Regiment, 2 battalions 1,300 Perpignan Provisional Regiment, 4 battalions 1,680 5th Legion of the Reserve, 1 battalion 500 Chasseurs des Montagnes, 1 battalion 560? Valais Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion 800 4 squadrons cavalry replacements 550 2 artillery companies 200 4th DivisionGeneral of DivisionJoseph Souham Nov: 7,712 1st Light Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions ? 3rd Light Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion ? 7th Line Infantry Regiment, 2 battalions ? 42nd Line Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions ? 67th Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion ? 5th DivisionGeneral of DivisionDomenico Pino Nov: 8,368 1st Italian Light Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions ? 2nd Italian Light Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions ? 4th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 2 battalions ? 5th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion ? 6th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions ? 7th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion ? 6th DivisionGeneral of DivisionLouis François Jean Chabot Nov: 1,988 Chasseurs of the Eastern Pyrenees, 1 battalion ? 2nd Neapolitan Infantry Regiment, 2 battalions ? Cavalry BrigadeGeneral of BrigadeJacques Fontane Nov: 1,700 7th Italian Dragoon Regiment ? Royal Italian Chasseur Regiment ? 24th Dragoon Regiment (not brigaded) ? VII Corps Artillery Nov: 500 Artillery companies 500 Grand Total Nov: 42,382 -
Spanish order of battle The Royal Spanish army included one of its three Irish regiments, the Ultonia Infantry Regiment. There were also six Swiss regiments, among them the 1st Wimpfen and 2nd Reding senior Infantry Regiments. The Provincial Grenadiers were a militia formation. Uniquely among the provinces of Spain, Catalonia raised its own type of militia, the miquelets. This was a mass levy of military aged men that was armed and paid by the church parishes. They were sometimes called somatenes after the alarm-bell (somaten) used to alert them. The miquelets were organized into 1,000-man "tercios". Newly-raised units are labeled "Volunteers" or "new". Miquelets and militia have the Catalan flag. All others are regulars.
During the Siege of Roses, the garrison consisted of 150 men of the Ultonia Regiment, one-half of the 2nd of Barcelona Light Infantry Regiment, one company of the 1st Wimpfen Swiss Regiment, the Lerida and Igualada Tercios, and elements of the Berga and Figueras Tercios. These were later reinforced by a small battalion of the Borbon Regiment. Nearly all these troops went into captivity when the place surrendered on 5 December.
One authority stated that Reding commanded two battalions each of the 1st Grenada, Baza, and Almeria Infantry Regiments at Cardedeu. Vives led newly organized Catalan units at Cardedeu, plus seven guns, but the source did not specify which units. A second historian credited the Spanish at Cardedeu with 5,000 Granadan troops under Reding and 4,000 Catalans under Vives, but did not list the individual units. This force included 600 cavalrymen and seven field guns. During the battle, Francisco Milans del Bosch was to the east with 3,000 miquelets and Luis Rebolledo de Palafox y Melci, 1st marqués de Lazán was to the north with perhaps 6,000 more soldiers. However, Milans' men were still reeling from their defeat the day before and Lazán was too slow; neither intervened at Cardedeu.
+Spanish Army on 5 November 1808 Army Division Strength Unit Strength Army of CataloniaCaptain-GeneralJuan Miguel de Vives y Feliu VanguardBrigadier-GeneralMariano Álvarez de Castro 5,600 Ultonia Infantry Regiment 300 Borbon Infantry Regiment 500 2nd of Barcelona Light Infantry Regiment 1,000 1st Wimpfen Swiss Infantry Regiment 400 1st Gerona Tercio 900 2nd Gerona Tercio 400 Igualada Tercio 400 Cervera Tercio 400 1st Tarragona Tercio 800 Figueras Tercio 400 San Narciso Hussar Regiment (new) 100 1st DivisionGeneralConde de Caldagues 4,9986 guns 2nd Walloon Guards 314 Soria Infantry Regiment 780 Borbon Infantry Regiment (det.) 151 2nd of Savoia Infantry Regiment 1,734 2nd Reding senior Swiss Infantry Regiment (det.) 270 Tortosa Tercio 984 Igualada and Cervera Tercio (det.) 245 Sappers 50 Españoles Hussar Regiment, 2 squadrons 220 Cataluña Cazadores Cavalry (new) 180 Artillery battery 70, 6 guns 2nd DivisionGeneral Laguna 2,3607 guns Old Castile Provincial Grenadiers 972 New Castile Provincial Grenadiers 924 Zaragosa Volunteers 150 Sappers 30 Españoles Hussar Regiment 200 Artillery battery 84, 7 guns 3rd DivisionGeneral La Serna 2,458 Grenada Infantry Regiment 961 2nd Tarragona Tercio 922 Arzu Division (new) 325 Sueltas Companies (new) 250 4th DivisionGeneralFrancisco Milans del Bosch 3,710 1st Lerida Tercio 872 Vich Tercio 976 Manresa Tercio 937 Valls Tercio 925 Reserve 9074 guns Spanish Guards 60 Grenadiers Soria Regiment 188 Grenadiers Wimpfen Swiss Regiment 169 General's Bodyguard 340 Sappers 20 Españoles Hussar Regiment 80 Artillery battery 50, 4 guns Army of GranadaGeneralTheodor von Reding 1st Division 8,200 2nd Reding senior Swiss Regiment 1,000 1st Granada (Iliberia) Infantry Regiment (new) 2,400 Baza Infantry Regiment (new) 2,400 Almeria Infantry Regiment (new) 2,400 2nd Division 6,000 Santa Fé Infantry Regiment (new) 2,400 Antequera Infantry Regiment (new) 1,200 Loja Infantry Regiment (new) 2,400 Cavalry 670 Granada Hussar Regiment (new) 670 Artillery 130, 6 g. Artillery battery 130, 6 guns Army of AragonCaptain-GeneralJosé de Palafox y MelciNot present 3rd DivisionGeneralLuis Palafox, marqués de Lazán 4,688 1st Aragon Volunteers 638 3rd Aragon Volunteers 593 Fernando VII of Aragon Regiment (new) 648 Daroca Regiment (new) 503 La Reunion Regiment (new) 1,286 Reserva del General Regiment (new) 934 Fernando VII Cazadores Cavalry, 1 troop 22 Artillery battery 64
Notes
References