Battle of Valdepeñas



The battle of Valdepeñas was a popular uprising that took place on 6 June 1808, at the beginning of the Spanish War of Independence, in the town of Valdepeñas, Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha. Valdepeñas is on the main road from Madrid to Andalusia.

Following the previous day's uprising in Santa Cruz de Mudela, the French generals Ligier-Belair and Roize, at the head of some 800 troops, including 250 dragoons, together with some 300 soldiers that had escaped from the Santa Cruz uprising prepared to march through the town of Valdepeñas. The population, including women such as Juana Galán, who became a national heroine, attacked the leading column and Ligier-Belair sent in the dragoons, who were forced to retreat.

Finally, the French troops set fire to some 500 houses and shot at the fleeing population. The fires raged for three days and the resulting truce stipulated that the French troops would not pass through the village in return for a day's worth of food supplies. The guerrilla actions at Santa Cruz and Valdepeñas, together with more isolated actions in the Sierra Morena itself, effectively cut French military communications between Madrid and Andalusia for around a month.