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The Bloodiest Siege of the Napoleonic Wars
And rare undisciplined savagery from the British
At the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, Spain and France were in an alliance against the British. It was a strong union and one that Napoleon had hoped to use to force Portugal to capitulate and isolate Britain. But, for reasons not entirely known, Napoleon decided to betray the Spanish alliance and invade the country himself in 1808. Napoleon wanted to put his own brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the throne, thus unifying France and Spain under the Bonaparte banner. These actions kicked off the Peninsular War, which saw France attempt to fight Spain, Portugal, and Great Britain in a prolonged fight for the peninsula.
Britain and Portugal were a part of an ancient alliance, and Britain quickly sent troops to Lisbon to fight for control of Spain. From Portugal, the new Allied armies marched into Spain and began laying siege to the cities and fortresses lying along the Spanish-Portuguese border. It was during this campaign that the war saw its bloodiest siege and one of the most shocking conducts by British soldiers in history.
