The Battle of Corunna (or La Corunna, A Coruña, La Coruña, or Elviña) refers to a battle of the Peninsular War that took place on January 16, 1809, when a French army under Marshal Soult attacked the British under Sir John Moore who were attempting to retreat from northern Spain following the defeat of the Spanish and their allies in the campaign.
In November 1808 the British army led by Sir John Moore advanced into Spain with orders to assist the Spanish armies in their struggle against the invading forces of Napoleon. The army had advanced to Salamanca when Moore eventually judged that the Spanish forces were beaten, and considered that to avoid disaster he must give up and retreat to the coast. Before doing so he seized at an opportunity to threaten Napoleon’s communications with France hoping that he might divert Napoleon’s forces and give other parts of Spain and Portugal a few months respite in which they might reorganise. Napoleon responded with customary swiftness and decisiveness directing his Marshals to try and trap the British, himself leading an army in forced marches in spite of winter conditions. Moore had anticipated that he would have to be ready to make run for the coast and he managed to keep ahead of the pursuing French and avoid entrapment. When it was clear that he could not catch Moore, Napoleon decided to leave Spain to attend to other pressing matters and left the pursuit of the British to the corps of Marshal Soult. The retreat of the British, closely followed by their French pursuers, took them through mountainous terrain, in dreadful conditions of cold and snow and was marked by exhausting marches, privation, and suffering. At times the discipline of the British broke down but eventually they reached the port of Corunna in north west Spain where they expected to find a fleet to take them back them to England.  The British army arrived in Corunna on 11th January and would have immediately evacuated by sea but found that the transport vessels that had been ordered had not yet arrived. The French army began to arrive the next day, building up strength as they arrived from the march; Soult’s artillery arriving on the 14th January. The long-awaited transport ships also arrived on the 14th and that evening the British evacuated their sick, some horses and some of the guns, cavalrymen and gunners. (The terrain was unsuitable for cavalry, and since they would be of no use in the event of a battle many horses were slaughtered rather than leave them behind for the French.) Moore had deployed his army, now 14,500 strong, to cover the evacuation by placing the main part of it on a ridge astride the road to Corunna, a mile and a half south of the harbour. A stronger position lay to the south but the British commander considered that he lacked the numbers to defend it properly and had to be content with placing outposts there to slow the approach of the French. The left flank was covered by the river Mero and the left and centre of the ridge was quite defensible. The western and lower end of this ridge was more vulnerable and could be swept by guns on the rocky heights of the loftier range opposite, and the ground further west consisted of more open terrain extending as far as Corunna which might be provide the means of turning the whole position. Moore held two divisions back in reserve a little north and westwards in order to guard the right flank and to prevent a turning movement. On 15th January French troops pushed back the British outposts on the higher range and gradually took up position there. Soult sited his 11 heavy guns upon the rocky outcrop from where they would be able to fire upon the British right. The task was very difficult and it was night before the guns had been dragged into position.
 As day broke on 16th January the French were in position on the heights and all through the morning both armies observed each across the valley between them. Moore planned to continue with the embarkation later that day if Soult did not attack. By afternoon Moore considered an attack unlikely and he ordered the first divisions to make their way to the port, the rest of the army would follow at dusk, but shortly after, at 2pm, he learned that the French were attacking. Soult's plan was to move against the strongly-placed British infantry of the left and centre in order to contain it while the infantry division of Mermet attacked the more vulnerable British right above the village of Elvina. The cavalry was deployed further west near the more open country leading to Corunna. If the attacks succeeded they could seize the western end of the British lines and push on to cut off the bulk of the army from Corunna. Mermet’s infantry advanced quickly and soon pushed the British picquets from Elvina and attacked the heights beyond. At the same time a French brigade pushed up the valley on the British right in an attempt to turn their flank. The fiercest fighting took place in and around Elvina as the possession of this village changed hands several times, and the British suffered particularly from the fire of the heavy artillery on the heights opposite. Moore remained in this area to direct the battle ordering one regiment to fire down upon the flank of the French column that was attempting the turning movement and calling up the reserve to meet it. The British commander had just rallied the 42nd regiment that had fallen back from Elvina when he was struck by a cannonball and fell mortally wounded. For a time the British were without a commander, which hampered attempts at a counter attack in this crucial sector, but the fighting continued unabated. Further west the French cavalry attempted to push forward as part of the flank attack but they were hampered by the rough terrain and eventually driven back by the advance of the British reserves. Night brought an end to the fighting by which time the French had been repulsed and had returned to their original positions; both sides holding much the same ground as before the fight. Command of the British army had passed to General Hope who decided to proceed with the embarkation as had been the original plan. At around 9pm the British began to silently withdraw from their lines, leaving behind strong picquets who maintained watch-fires throughout the night. At daybreak on the 17th January the picquets were withdrawn behind the rearguard and went aboard ship; by morning most of the army had embarked. When Soult perceived that the British had left the ridge he posted six guns on the heights above the southern end of the bay and by midday they were were able fire upon the outlying ships. This caused panic amongst some of the transports until the battery was silenced by fire from the warships. Finally, on the 18th January, the British rearguard embarked, the small Spanish garrison under General Alcedo faithfully holding the citadel until the fleet was well out to sea. As a result of the battle the British suffered around 800 men dead or wounded and the French around 1,500. The most notable casualty was the British commander Sir John Moore who survived long enough to learn of his success. The British army had been sent into Spain to aid that nation in expelling the French, but they had been forced into a humiliating retreat in terrible winter conditions that wrought havoc with health and morale and resulted in the army degenerating into a rabble. Fortunately for Sir John Moore and his men Marshal Soult's attack at Corunna provided them with the opportunity to redeem their honour and reputation through their defensive victory, by which means the army was saved though at the cost of the British general’s life. Nevertheless back in England the reaction to news of the battle of Corunna and the safe evacuation of the army was a storm of criticism over Moore’s handling of the campaign, whilst back in Corunna his adversary Marshal Soult took care of Moore’s grave and ordered a monument to be raised in his memory. |  related internet links
a wonderful website concering
both the city and the province
history, geography and a whole lot more
the British commander who
died as a result of injuries
sustained during the battle
The road to war began in the autumn
of 1807 when Napoleon moved French
troops through Spain to invade Portugal.
After feeding more than 100,000 troops
into Spain under the pretext of supporting
the invasion, Napoleon deposed the existing
Spanish monarch in April 1808 in order to
place his own brother Joseph on the throne.
Although the ensuing Spanish uprising can
hardly have come as a surprise to Napoleon,
he failed to see that the revolt could never be
completely suppressed
one of the most able of all Napoleon’s
marshals, rising from the ranks to
become the Grand Old Man of the
French Army, and only the fourth man
to be created Maréchal-général of the
French army. |
The Battle of Corunna (1809) |