| Battle Of Barrosa |
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The Battle of Barrosa took place on March 5 , 1811 between Anglo-Spanish and French forces as part of the Peninsular War . The Barrosa beach is in Chiclana De La Frontera , province of Cádiz, Spain . At the time of the battle, Cadiz was being besieged by the French under the command of Soult , but Soult had stripped the besieging forces in order to raise a force of 20,000 men to besiege Badajoz . In an attempt to raise the siege of Cádiz, a mixed Anglo-Spanish force was landed at Tarifa to march up the coast, and attack the siege lines from the rear. The force (15,000 men) was under the command of the Spanish General La Pena , with the British contingent (5,000 men) being commanded by Lieutenant-General Graham . At the approaches to Cádiz, the French took up a position at the "Pinar de los Franceses", a marshy area about 15 km (10 miles) east of the Barrosa beach, where the road to Cádiz and San Fernando goes between a marshy area and a pine forest. This blocked attack on the siege lines, but left open a road to Cádiz. La Pena decided to march on to Cádiz, rather than attempt to force the French position and attack the siege lines. To cover this, a mixed force was told off to act as rear guard. In the event, only the British component of the rearguard (a single Battalion of 470 men drawn from the Gibraltar garrison) took up its positions on a low hill inland from Barrosa. This retreated when threatened by significant French forces (about 7,000 men), and as a result Graham's division came under long-range artillery fire. Graham therefore counter-marched his division to retake the hill. The British infantry advanced in line; the French came down the hill in columns to attack them. In an exchange of musketry at close range, the French came off worse, and fell back. 2 French regiments broke and fled, and the British captured a Regimental Eagle - the first to be captured by them in the Peninsular war. Tactically, and in terms of casualties inflicted, the battle was a victory for the British troops. They had already marched a considerable distance during that day (and the preceding night), and were fighting a French force approaching twice their numbers (the Spanish were—on La Pena's instructions—not significantly involved). Strategically, it had no real effect; after the battle the force resumed its march to Cádiz without any further attempt to attack the siege lines. The battle gives its name (despite the different spelling) to the Barossa wine-growing region of Australia . Of specific note: The first French eagle was captured from the French in this battle, the 8th of the line (French) losing its eagle to the 87th Irish Foot. Sergeant Matterson captured the eagle and was commissioned Lieutenant for this feat. REFERENCES
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