The Uprising of Santa Cruz de Mudela was a popular uprising that took place on 5 June 1808, at the beginning of the

Spanish War of Independence 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 ...

, in the town of

Santa Cruz de Mudela Santa Cruz de Mudela is a municipality of the Spanish Province of Ciudad Real located in the southeastern corner of the autonomous community Castilla–La Mancha. Geography Santa Cruz de Mudela has a Mediterranean–Continental climate that cons ...

Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ) is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. It was founded as Villa Real in 1255 as a ro ...

, Castile-La Mancha. Santa Cruz de Mudela is on the main road from Madrid to Andalusia. A detachment of 400 French troops stationed in the village of Santa Cruz de Mudela were attacked by the population. In the uprising, 109 French soldiers were killed and 113 others taken prisoner, while the rest fled back in the direction of Madrid, to Valdepeñas,Madrid y Medina, Ángela (1981)
''Valdepeñas'', p. 30. Instituto de Estudios Manchegos. Editorial Clunia.
''Google Books''. Retrieved 25 August 2013. where, the next day, there would be another famous popular uprising against the French Army. The

guerrilla action Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism, ...

s at Santa Cruz and Valdepeñas, together with more isolated actions in the

Sierra Morena The Sierra Morena is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. It stretches for 450 kilometres from east to west across the south of the Iberian Peninsula, forming the southern border of the ''Meseta Central'' plateau and providi ...

itself, effectively cut French military communications between Madrid and Andalusia for around a month.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Cruz de Mudela 1808 Battles of the Peninsular War involving Spain Rebellions in Spain 19th-century rebellions History of the province of Ciudad Real Military history of Castilla–La Mancha 1808 in Spain June 1808 Conflicts in 1808

See also

References