Siege of Badajoz (1812) - Siege

Siege

After capturing the frontier towns of Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo in earlier sieges, the Anglo-Portuguese army moved on to Badajoz to capture the town and secure the lines of communication back to Lisbon, the primary base of operations for the allied army. Badajoz was garrisoned by some 5,000 French soldiers under General Philippon, the town commander, and possessed much stronger fortifications than either Almeida or Ciudad Rodrigo. With a strong curtain wall covered by numerous strongpoints and bastions, Badajoz had already faced two unsuccessful sieges and was well prepared for a third attempt, with the walls strengthened and some areas around the curtain wall flooded or mined with explosives.

The allied army, some 27,000 strong, outnumbered the French garrison by around five to one and after encircling the town, began to lay siege by preparing trenches, parallels and earthworks to protect the heavy siege artillery, work made difficult by prolonged and torrential rainfalls. As the earthworks were prepared, the French made several raids to try to destroy the lines advancing toward the curtain wall, but were repeatedly fended off by the famed British 95th Rifles while simultaneously being counter-attacked by line infantry.

With the arrival of heavy 18 lb (8.2 kg) and 24 lb (11 kg) howitzers, the allies began an intense bombardment of the town's defences whilst one of the defensive bastions was seized by redcoats from General Thomas Picton's 3rd Division. The capture of the bastion allowed more extensive siege earthworks to be dug and soon a maze of trenches were creeping up to the high stone walls as the cannons continued to blast away at the stonework. By April 5 two breaches had been made in the curtain wall and the soldiers readied themselves to storm Badajoz. The order to attack was delayed for 24 hours to allow another breach to be made in the wall. News began to filter to the allies that Marshal Soult was marching to relieve the town and an order was given to launch the attack at 22:00 on April 6.

The French garrison were well aware of what was to come, and mined the large breaches in the walls in preparation for the imminent assault.