- Battle of Fuengirola
Infobox Military Conflict
caption="Battle of Fuengirola", a painting byJanuary Suchodolski
oil on canvas, 93 x 66 cm,Polish Army Museum
conflict=Battle of Fuengirola
partof=thePeninsular War
date=October 15 ,1810
place=Fuengirola , nearMálaga ,Spain
result=Franco-Polish victory
combatant1=flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
flag|Spain|1785
combatant2=flagicon|PolandDuchy of Warsaw ,
flagicon|France French Empire
commander1=Lord Blayney
commander2=Franciszek Młokosiewicz
strength1=3,501 British 1,000 Spanish
strength2=350 Polish 30 French
casualties1=
casualties2=At the Battle of Fuengirola (
October 15 ,1810 ) a small Polish garrison of a mediæval Moorish fortress inFuengirola held off a much larger Spanish-British expeditionary corps under Lord Blayney.Background
The town of
Fuengirola has been an important trade town since the Middle Ages. To defend it against invasion from the sea, theMoors had built a stone castle on a hill between theMediterranean and theFuengirola River . During thePeninsular War the area ofCosta del Sol was considered of secondary importance and it was seized by the French forces with little opposition and until1810 the partisan activity in the region was close to none. That is why, after suffering losses in the fights in the interior, some Polish units of theDuchy of Warsaw were sent there in October 1810 to serve as a garrison and to rest.The Castillo de Sohail was manned by more than one hundred Polish soldiers from the 4th Infantry Regiment. The unit was commanded by Captain
Franciszek Młokosiewicz . Similar small garrisons were placed in the nearby towns ofMijas (60 infantrymen under Lieutenant Eustachy Chełmicki) andAlhaurin (200 infantrymen and 40 dragoons under Major Bronisz). All of these forces formed part of the French Corps of General Horace Sébastiani stationed atMálaga . The corps numbered some 10,000 men located in southernAndalusia to prevent the Spanish partisans from receiving arms fromGibraltar .In the autumn of
1810 , the British Major General Lord Blayney decided to lead an expeditionary force fromGibraltar towards the port ofMálaga and seize it by surprise. The beaches near the small fortress of Fuengirola seemed a perfect landing place for his forces. The Spanish partisans informed the British about the weakness of the defenders and lack of reserves. In October1810 Blayney gathered a field force of2/89th Regiment of Foot , a battalion of international deserters from the French army, an artillery unit, naval gun crews and a SpanishToledo Regiment . The initial British-Spanish expedition numbered some 1700 men, excluding naval staff and crew. They boarded a small fleet consisting of twofrigate s, (HMS "Topaze" and HMS "Sparrowhawk"), fivegunboat s, severalbrig s, and transportsloop s.Battle
On
October 14 ,1810 , the British armada reached theCala Moral Bay , about two miles southwest from Fuengirola. The British disembarked, and were joined on the beach by a small number of Spanish partisans. Blayney led his force northeast along the shore while his fleet sailed parallel toward Fuengirola. At 2:00 p.m. they all arrived in front of the castle and the British general sent an emissary to convince the Polish commander to surrender. Młokosiewicz refused and the British ships opened fire.Despite numerical inferiority, the Poles held out. Sergeant Zakrzewski even managed to sink one of the British gunboats. The remaining gunboats withdrew out of the range of the two lightweight Polish guns. Under the cover of gunfire from his two frigates, Blayney attempted a frontal attack on the castle walls. However, after Major Grant, the commander of
2/89th Regiment of Foot had been killed, Lord Blayney ordered a retreat. Overnight he landed his guns and the British engineers built two artillery emplacements near the castle, from which they planned to destroy the walls. In the meantime, the Polish garrison ofMijas under Lieut. Chełmicki, alarmed by the artillery bombardment, sneaked through the British lines and joined up with the defenders. Bronisz's garrison ofAlhaurin was also alarmed and in the early morning of October 15 it marched to Mijas, where it clashed with a 450-strong Spanish-German unit sent there by Blayney and dispersed it in a bayonet charge.On the morning of
October 15 the artillery bombardment became heavy and the British cannons destroyed one of the castle towers. Around 2:00 p.m., HMS "Rodney" and a similar Spanish warship arrived at Fuengirola bringing 932 men of the 1/82nd Regiment of Foot. To counter the threat, Captain Młokosiewicz decided to execute a surprise attack on the enemy artillery positions. Leaving the castle guarded mostly by the wounded, he led the remaining 130 soldiers in a sally. The besiegers were taken by surprise and, despite huge numerical superiority (approximately 10:1), the Spanish regiment protecting the hill artillery redoubt retreated in disorder. The guns were turned away from the castle and the Polish infantrymen started shelling the British positions. Although the artillery fire mostly missed its targets (there were no trained artillery officers in the Polish unit), it made the regrouping of British troops much more difficult.After about half an hour, Lord Blayney managed to reorganise his troops on the beach and ordered the assault of the artillery emplacement occupied by Polish forces. The outnumbered defenders blew up the gunpowder supplies and withdrew towards the castle. However, before the British and Spanish forces could push any further, they were attacked on their left flank by the Polish garrison of Alhaurin that had just arrived on the battlefield. Approximately 200 rested and well-equipped Poles under Bronisz distracted the British long enough to let the withdrawing Captain Młokosiewicz regroup his force and strike the right flank of the British line. This near-simultaneous attack of Polish units, supported by approximately 30 French cavalrymen from the 21st Dragoon Regiment, surprised the enemy infantry, which soon began to waver. After Lord Blayney was taken prisoner by the Poles, his infantry sounded retreat and started a chaotic re-embarcation under the fire of their own, captured once more, guns.
Aftermath
The heroic defence of the castle in Fuengirola was one of the few times in history (other than Maida and Albuera), in which Polish soldiers fought against the forces of Great Britain. It was also one of the few decisive British defeats in the Peninsular War. Although, in his memoirs, Lord Blayney tried to downplay the importance of the battle of Fuengirola, he himself remained in French captivity for nearly four years, until
1814 . His surrenderedsabre is currently on exhibition at theCzartoryski Museum in Kraków (Cracow).Some British military historians have blamed the British debacle on the timely arrival of General Sébastiani's superior relief force from Málaga. However, Sébastiani's own report to
Marshal Soult attests that his column reached Fuengirola on the morning of October 16, some time after the fight. That debate, nevertheless, continues. (See, for example, Juan Antonio Martín Ruiz's "Breve historia de Fuengirola", Editorial Sarriá, 2000, pp. 62-63.)Notes and references
* cite book | author =George Nafziger | coauthors =Mariusz Wesołowski | title =Poles and Saxons of the Napoleonic Wars | year =1991 | editor = | pages =104-109 | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =The Emperor's Press | location =Chicago, Il. | isbn= | url = | format = | accessdate =
* cite book | author =David G. Chandler | coauthors = | title =Słownik Wojen Napoleońskich | year =1999 | editor = | pages = | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =Wordsworth Editions | location =Ware | isbn=1-84022-203-4 | url = | format = | accessdate =
* cite book | author =Marian Kujawski | coauthors = | title =Z bojów polskich w wojnach napoleońskich; Maida–Somosierra–Fuengirola–Albuera | year =1967 | editor = | pages = | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =Polska Fundacja Kulturalna | location =London | isbn= | url = | format = | accessdate =
* cite book | author =various authors | coauthors =Robert Bielecki | title =Dał nam przykład Bonaparte; wspomnienia i relacje żołnierzy polskich 1796-1815 | year =1984 | editor =Andrzej Tadeusz Tyszka | pages = | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =Wydawnictwo Literackie | location =Kraków | isbn=8308006450 | url = | format = | accessdate =External links
* [http://napoleonistyka.atspace.com/Fuengirola.htm Battle of Fuengirola, detailed account]
* [http://www.proni.gov.uk/records/private/blayney.htm Andrew, 11th Lord of Blayney]
* [http://napoleon.gery.pl/polska/espana/fuen.jpgPortrait of Eustachy Chełmicki]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.