Battles of El Bruch
Part of Peninsular War
First battle of El Bruch (engraving by José Coromina Faralt, c. 1820)
Date 6 June and 14 June 1808 Location El Bruc, near Barcelona, Catalonia 41°34′48″N 1°46′49″E / 41.58000°N 1.78028°E / 41.58000; 1.78028 Result 1st: Spanish victory 2nd: Spanish victory
Belligerents
French Empire	Kingdom of Spain
Commanders and leaders
François de Schwarz Joseph Chabran	Antoni Franch i Estalella Joan Baiget
Strength
3,800–5,000 regulars	2,000 regulars and militia
Casualties and losses
6 June: 360 dead 800 wounded 60 captured 1 gun captured Total: 1,220 14 June: 83 dead 274 wounded Total: 357 Grand total: 1,577	6 June: 20 dead 80 wounded Total: 100 14 June: 15 dead 50 wounded Total: 65 Grand total: 165

The two battles of the Bruch (Spanish: Batallas del Bruch; Catalan: Batalles del Bruc) were engagements fought successively, at El Bruc, near Barcelona, Catalonia, on 6 and 14 June 1808, during the Peninsular War, by French troops commanded by Brigadier General François de Schwarz and General of Division Joseph Chabran against Spanish volunteers and mercenaries led by General Antoni Franch i Estalella and Joan Baget.

The result of these battles and actions was a Spanish victory.^[1]

Background

The previous month's uprising in Madrid had put Iberia in revolt against French rule.

June 6

The French detachment of 3,800 soldiers under General of Brigade François Xavier de Schwarz left Barcelona on June 4, advancing in the direction of Lleida–Saragossa. A rainstorm that day slowed their march considerably, giving time for local Spanish forces, composed of militia from the neighboring villages, volunteers (sometent), and Swiss and Walloon soldiers from the Barcelona garrison (2,000 men), to mobilize for action. The Spaniards were led by General Antoni Franch i Estalella and deployed along the Bruc Pass.

The resulting stand was a success,^[1] and the French under General Schwarz were turned back to Barcelona with the loss of 360 dead, 800 wounded, 60 prisoners, and one gun captured. The Spanish also captured a French Imperial Eagle.^[2]

The sometent at Bruc (1880), by Ramon Martí Alsina

French army

Statue of Antoni Franch i Estalella at Castells d'Igualada square

Montserrat mountains viewed from the Bruc

• Schwartz Column - Brigadier-General Francis Xavier Schwartz, Commander-in-Chief
  • 1st Regiment Neapolitan of the line (2 battalions - 1940 men)
  • 2nd Line Regiment Switzerland (3rd battalion - 580 men)
  • 2nd Regiment of the line (3rd battalion - 610 men)
  • 1st Regiment of Chasseurs Neapolitan (2 squadrons - 160 men)
  • 3rd Regiment Provisional cuirassiers (1 squadron - 100 men)
  • 11th Italian artillery company (section 1 - 2 guns)

June 14

A second French sortie on June 14, led by General of Division Joseph Chabran, succeeded only in putting to the torch several buildings in El Bruc after having been defeated and repelled by the Spanish forces led by Joan Baget. The following day, the Spanish attacked the French in their withdrawal to Barcelona, inflicting more than 500 dead and wounded on Chabran's troops.^[3]

Aftermath

The Spanish conventional warfare proceeded with the Battle of Girona.

See also

• Drummer of El Bruc
• Timeline of the Peninsular War

Notes

References

• Gates, David (2001). The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81083-2.
• Pigeard, Alain (2004). Dictionnaire des batailles de Napoléon (in French). Paris: Tallandier.
• Rodríguez-Solís, Enrique (1895). Los guerrilleros de 1808: Historia popular de la Guerra de la Independencia (in Spanish). Vol. I. Calle de Balmes.

Further reading

• Finestres, Charles (2008). Timbals de guerra al Bruc (in Catalan). Jordi & Moliner, Antoni.
• Oman, Sir Charles William Chadwick (1902). A History of the Peninsular War: 1807–1809. Vol. I. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved 1 May 2021.

External links

• "6-6-1808 Primera Acción del Bruch" (in Spanish). Guerra de Independencia española 1808-1814.
• "14-6-1808 Segunda Acción del Bruch" (in Spanish). Guerra de Independencia española 1808-1814.
• Media related to Battles of the Bruch at Wikimedia Commons