The Battle of Bornos on 31 May 1812, saw a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

force led by Francisco Ballesteros attack an Imperial French division under Nicolas François Conroux. Though the Spanish achieved surprise, the outnumbered French soldiers fought back and drove off their assailants. The Spanish suffered losses considerably higher than the French. Bornos is located on Route 342 about northeast of

Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Sp ...

. The battle occurred during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

, part of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

Battle

In March 1812,

General of Division Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French Revolutionary System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps ...

Nicolas François Conroux held the town with a division of 5,445 men in eight battalions plus attached artillery. Francisco Ballesteros left

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in early May and marched toward Bornos. Covered by a fog, the Spanish troops attacked the town and gained an initial advantage. However, Conroux was able to rally his troops and began launching a series of counterattacks. The French troops included the 9th Light and 96th Line Infantry Regiments, the 5th

Chasseurs à Cheval ''Chasseur'' ( , ), a French term for "hunter", is the designation given to certain regiments of French and Belgian light infantry () or light cavalry () to denote troops trained for rapid action. History This branch of the French Army o ...

Regiment, and a squadron of the 2nd Chasseurs à Cheval. At length, Conroux was able to defeat Ballesteros, capturing 600 Spanish soldiers, four cannons, and two colors. Historian Digby Smith listed the French units as two battalions each of the 9th Light and 96th Line, one battalion of the 16th Light, and the 5th Chasseurs à Cheval for a total of 4,500 men. He noted that Ballesteros lost 1,500 casualties and four cannons out of a total force of 8,500 troops. This author named the battle "Cadiz" and gave a date of 1 June. David Gates wrote that the French lost about 500 casualties and agreed with Smith that Conroux's men inflicted total losses of about 1,500 on their enemies. Before, an earlier Battle of Bornos occurred on 5 November 1811. Three French columns were unsuccessful in an attempt to trap a Spanish force led by Ballesteros. So instead, the Spanish general lashed out at one of the pursuing columns, inflicting 100 casualties and inducing an entire French-allied Spanish ''Juramentado'' battalion to change sides. Smith called this a French victory.

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External links

* Battles of the Peninsular War involving Spain Military history of Andalusia Province of Cádiz 1812 in Spain Conflicts in 1812 May 1812 {{France-battle-stub