Siege of Tarragona

In the Siege of Tarragona (June 3 - June 11, 1813), an overwhelming Anglo-Allied force commanded by Lieutenant General John Murray, 8th Baronet failed to capture the Spanish port of Tarragona from a small Franco-Italian garrison led by General of Brigade Antoine Bertoletti. Murray's Anglo-Sicilian-Spanish army, based on Alicante, inflicted a sharp check on Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet's corps at the Battle of Castalla in April. After this action,... more

In the Siege of Tarragona (June 3 - June 11, 1813), an overwhelming Anglo-Allied force commanded by Lieutenant General John Murray, 8th Baronet failed to capture the Spanish port of Tarragona from a small Franco-Italian garrison led by General of Brigade Antoine Bertoletti. Murray's Anglo-Sicilian-Spanish army, based on Alicante, inflicted a sharp check on Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet's corps at the Battle of Castalla in April. After this action, General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington ordered Murray to attack Tarragona, which is on the east coast of Spain. The port is about 50 miles southwest of Barcelona. Wellington planned to launch his summer 1813 offensive against King Joseph Bonaparte's French armies. By attacking Tarragona, Wellington wished to prevent Suchet from reinforcing Joseph. On June 2, Rear-Admiral Benjamin Hallowell Carew's squadron put Murray's 16,000 men ashore at Salou Bay, six miles south of Tarragona. They soon met General Francisco Copons' division of 7... less