A brief and secondary conflict, this war nevertheless offers the vision of a Spain already ready to enter turmoil. An uncertain ally and jealous of its independence, the prolonged presence of a French expeditionary force on its territory gives a glimpse of what will happen in 1808.
By the treaties of Basel (1795) and Saint-Ildefonso (1796), revolutionary France and the Spanish monarchy put an end to the war opposing them in the Pyrenees since 1793. By renouncing its conquests, the Republic ensured in return the support of the Spanish navy, the third in the world. Considered with a certain disdain by the French political elites, Spain became a simple auxiliary in its fight against England, even going to war against the latter in 1797. In 1801, most European countries left the second coalition. Only England and its Portuguese ally remain.
A Portugal under the influence
Since the Treaty of Methuen (1703), the economy of the Lusitano kingdom has depended mainly on the influx of English goods while England is the main outlet for Portuguese agricultural products (especially corn and port). All this necessarily influences the political choices of the kingdom. And if it feels like denouncing this alliance, the Royal Navy can at any time cut ties with its Brazilian colony, vital to their trade. Moreover, an English corps of 6,000 men has been stationed in the country since 1791. Witness to this subjugation, General Rivaud, of whom we will speak again, reports that "the Lisbon cabinet allowed the Spaniards to be insulted in the ports, refused them justice which they claimed against the annoyances of the English, the ports, the arsenals were at the entire disposal of the English, they employed the ships, the sailors and even the soldiers” (1).
To push England to the negotiating table, the First Consul therefore had the idea of attacking its interests in Portugal, being unable to attack the British Isles by sea, nor to help the army blocked in Egypt. To conquer Portugal, Bonaparte intends to rely on Spain. He sent his brother Lucien as ambassador to Madrid, from whom he had just removed the Ministry of the Interior. Arriving on December 6, 1800, in the Iberian capital, he met Manuel Godoy, the Prime Minister and favorite of the royal couple, intending to strengthen the alliance so that Spain would intervene jointly with France against its neighbor. By the convention of Aranjuez (January 29, 1801), Godoy committed his country to France's side to summon Portugal to break with its English ally.
This commitment, however, puts King Charles IV at odds with his Portuguese son-in-law, Prince Regent John (future John VI). The latter is also not prepared to shake off English tutelage while the King of Spain sees no reason to wage war against his neighbor. Things are not looking good while the French Corps is slow to become operational. One reason for this: in Bonaparte's mind, the Peace of Lunéville (February 9, 1801) put the invasion of Portugal in the background.
An army of odds and ends
However, on January 16, 1801, Bonaparte gave himself the means to achieve his ambitions by creating an observation corps for the Gironde. On March 15, he appointed General Leclerc, the husband of his sister Pauline, as head. If we must be wary of General Thiébault's judgments, he has the merit of raising an essential point about the supervision of this army in training: “This pygmy [Leclerc] appeared, while so many famous division generals remained unemployed […] and had we not dared to place under this leader a single division general, from which it resulted that three infantry divisions and one cavalry were commanded only by brigadier generals. » (2) Aside from Leclerc, the other generals who must command the troops are only newly promoted brigadiers (Dumoulin, Gilly, Lamarque, Monnet, and Thiébault) while the observation corps will not exceed 12 000 men (out of the 20,000 planned).
During these two months of latency, this corps will only have existed on paper due to the mobilization of the army which has just finished the fighting in Italy and Germany. It took several weeks for the troops, mainly from Verona and Passau, to converge on Bordeaux, their rallying point. While the troops must move to the Tagus and the Duero on the Portuguese border to join the Spanish army, it is decided that the stragglers will join them as they advance to enter the campaign. But when he arrived in Gironde, it was disillusionment for Leclerc. He did not find 2,000 suitable men and his report to Bonaparte insisted on the dilapidation and nakedness of these units.
Appointed chief of staff, Rivaud was given the mission of putting them back on their feet. However, this proved difficult because, he said, “Bordeaux, Bayonne and the borders of Spain not having had troops since the peace with it, the stores contained neither clothing nor weapons. 'infantry'. Commanding a brigade heading towards Burgos, Thiébault reported that his men were “in shirts, disheveled, with their sleeves rolled up and armed with naked sabers, pistols stuffed in their belts, carbines and rifles, [the Spaniards] took us for the bandits. » (3) To save time, 2,500 men from Italy were concentrated in Perpignan who, from Toulon, went by diligence to Montpellier where they nevertheless disturbed public order. We hope to rely on local depots to clothe the troops. The result, however, was mixed: “The soldiers looked more like beggars picking up rags in the streets than like defenders of the State” (4), noted Lamarque, who commanded these troops. Arriving in Barcelona, he must mobilize the city's tailors to dress his soldiers from head to toe. While Bonaparte wanted the French troops to make a good impression when they entered Spain, the attempt was missed.
According to the Aranjuez Convention, the troops must be fed by Spain but remain paid by France. On April 13, the First Consul instructed his soldiers to “bring honor to the French nation […] through their discipline and their respect for customs. I would be pleased to see that the heads of the bodies went to mass with their music on feast days, and that, in the towns where there is a bishop, a body visit was made to him, as is the custom among them” (5) If some cringe at these “capuchinades”, others like Lamarque willingly go along with it because the latter clearly understood the importance of the influence of the Spanish clergy over the population. “The soldier,” he wrote to Leclerc, “very happy, sometimes shouts “viva el rey de Espagna” (sic). These cries, moreover, would not hurt the ears of the most suspicious Republicans, because we see that it is only an honest way of asking that we continue to have the same care for them. » (6)
Eighteen days later
At the same time, Godoy displays his ambitions and his independence. He indeed believes that Bonaparte's power is not viable. After Brumaire, he even thought about restoring a Bourbon to the throne of France. Although he respects the warlord, as a politician, Godoy believes himself to be on the same footing. After all, he has ruled his country almost without interruption since 1792. So he intends to go without his approval to go to war.
Appointed generalissimo by Charles IV, he attacked quickly to win a victory from which he alone would derive all the glory. On May 20, he captured Olivenza southwest of Badajoz, four months after the expiration of the ultimatum addressed to the court of Lisbon. The Spanish army blocks the square of Elvas and then goes to bomb further north the city of Campo Maior which falls after eighteen days of siege. The Portuguese army was quickly overwhelmed by its adversary who took control of Upper Alentejo.
Beaten and abandoned by its English ally (who did the same in 1807), Portugal resolved to sue for peace. As Godoy equally aspired to put an end to it before the arrival of the French, peace was quickly concluded on June 6 between the two countries. Not very bloody, this “miniature war” ultimately only lasted eighteen days, while the first French elements just reached Ciudad-Rodrigo. The Prince of Peace quickly came to an agreement with the Portuguese to botch the Treaty of Badajoz which only obliges Portugal to close its ports to the English, to cede Olivenza to Spain, and to pay a war indemnity of 15 million francs to France and to encourage the importation of French fabrics. For the price of their “generosity,” Godoy and Lucien Bonaparte received large commissions from Portuguese diplomats.
The initial goal of the war was thus missed since the First Consul envisaged the occupation of three provinces to serve as a bargaining chip. Secret negotiations with the English had begun in April but the news had spread in diplomatic circles. It was therefore necessary to arrive in a position of strength. Furious upon hearing the news, Bonaparte's response was not long in coming: "The peace proposals made by Portugal have not been accepted by the Government, which can only make peace as long as the Republic occupies up to general peace, two or three provinces, to serve as an equivalent to the large number of colonies that the English took from the allies. » (7) He also attacks his brother who asks in vain for his recall. At the same time, he asked General Gouvion Saint-Cyr, already on-site to monitor Lucien as "ambassador extraordinary", to consult with the Spanish government for a new campaign plan that he would direct in person. But neither Charles IV nor Godoy wanted to hear about it. Crowned with his victory which consolidates his power, the Prince of Peace has no interest in going back to war, moreover, this time, as a subordinate of the French.
And yet, Leclerc's soldiers continue to flock to Salamanca despite the multiplication of incidents on their route. Some isolated soldiers are molested, and others are murdered. Fatalist, Thiébault summarizes the delicate situation in which the expeditionary force finds itself: “Three unfortunate soldiers from this same battalion, who remained behind at the time of departure, and without having given rise to any complaint, were murdered the next day while leaving the village. More than a hundred others were likewise in the course of this campaign, and yet there was no question of revolution in Spain; we were the king's allies against Portugal. » (8) In Catalonia, Lamarque's troops are in the same situation: "We had to cross terrible roads and a country inhabited by fanatical men full of prejudices against everything French. In vain my troops had behaved with exemplary wisdom, we were seen in the minds of the populace as assassins, child eaters, etc. » (9) This hostility is especially present in the border provinces of France which were fanaticized by the clergy during the war of 1793. French soldiers were therefore ordered to only move into town in groups of four or five.
The announcement of peace has unfortunate consequences on the morale of the troops. The position of the Spanish government also embarrasses them. The war was over, and the French no longer intended to stay. In the middle of a country supposed to be its ally, the population becomes more and more hostile to the presence of gabachos (foreigners from across the Pyrenees). She also knows that Godoy remains inflexible to Bonaparte's demands, which comforts her in her attitude. The French are thus victims of the vindictiveness of certain radicalized elements or of idle Spanish soldiers who do not hesitate to commit murders under the eyes of the authorities who react weakly.
Other problems arose: the summer heat combined with the unsanitary conditions of the cities quickly made many soldiers sick. So the stewards are asked to have the streets swept and the rubbish taken outside the city. In hospitals, French patients complain of the little care they receive from Spanish surgeons. The supplies are slow to come when they are not of poor quality. Everything is being done to ensure that the gabachos leave the country. Finally, to ease tensions, Leclerc decided to station his troops between Toro and Tordesillas, on the banks of the Duero, far from the urban centers where tensions were exacerbated.
Looking forward to
For several weeks, the soldiers remained in uncertainty. The climate is nevertheless more relaxed than in Salamanca, even if some soldiers are poorly treated in the surrounding area and knocked out with logs (!). Monks did not hesitate to put themselves at the head of previously insulted crowds to attack the French, painted as soldiers of the Antichrist. On alert, these gatherings are quickly dispersed.
The inaction of the troops and the proximity of the Portuguese border also led to an increase in desertion. Some demi-brigades always have colorful outfits to the point that the troop feels humiliated to appear like this in front of the natives. Thiébault emphasizes that “inaction, so painful to the officers, became unbearable to the soldiers. […] They saw their stay prolonged in these sad lands, homesickness took hold of them, and among our conscripts, mortality became frightening. » (10) He spends hours raising the morale of his troops while Lamarque organizes shooting competitions, running and horse riding competitions as well as parties and banquets on the occasion of the Republican New Year, the 1st Vendémiaire (September 22).
It was not until the beginning of October that the expeditionary force received news of the international situation. Bonaparte was forced to conclude peace with Portugal. The Treaty of Madrid signed on September 29 was more severe than the first: the closure of ports to English ships was maintained, the war indemnity rose to 25 million francs, and commercial relations were reestablished with France. Finally, French Guiana was enlarged by the territory of Amapa going as far as the Rio Araguari, the beginning of a dispute with Brazil which would last throughout the 19th century. But the court of Lisbon will let the execution of the clauses drag on, for fear of offending its English ally. He also wasted no time in occupying Madeira. As for Godoy, he believes that his country has fulfilled its part of the bargain and is trying to get out of the French orbit by moving closer to Russia to form a league of neutral countries.
The English and French also ended up agreeing to open a congress which is to be held in Amiens from December 5. The expeditionary force received the order to pack up without having fired a shot, which, according to Thiébault, “put the army not in joy, but in delirium. Never country, I repeat, was more odious to our troops” (11) General Moncey said nothing else: “Never country was more odious all the way which brought us back from the banks of the Duero to Bidasoa. » (12)
If the War of the Oranges was only limited to painful marches for the French army, it was an opportunity to discover a Spain ready to burst into flames at the slightest sign against its “allied occupiers”. This hard learning will further increase the disdain and incomprehension of the French for Spain, without necessarily learning all the lessons.
(1) Defense Historical Service, B5-2. Rivaud, To serve in the military history of the Gironde Observation Corps.
(2) Memoirs of General Baron Thiébault, Paris, Plon-Nourrit, 1893-1895, t. iii, p. 202.
(3) Ibid., p. 219.
(4) National Archives 566 AP/3. Lamarque to Leclerc, May 8, 1801.
(5) General correspondence of Napoleon, t. III, letter n°6 210 to Leclerc, April 13, 1801.
(6) National Archives 566 AP/3. Lamarque to the prefect of the Pyrénées-Orientales, May 22, 1801.
(7) General correspondence, t. iii, letter no. 6,331 to Berthier, June 16, 1801.
(8) Memoirs of General Baron Thiébault…, p. 221.
(9) National Archives 566 AP/3. Lamarque to Leclerc, June 3, 1801.
(10) Memoirs of General Baron Thiébault…, p. 254.
(11) Ibid., p. 258.
(12) Quoted by J. Lucas-Dubreton, Napoleon before Spain. What Goya saw, Paris, Fayard, 1946, p. 91.
An uncertain ally
Manuel Godoy (1767-1851) came from a penniless noble family in Extremadura, earning him the nickname el Chorizero (“the charcutier”) by his detractors. The king's bodyguard, he became Charles IV's favorite and his wife's lover. His rapid rise gave him many enemies. Her favor goes so far as to allow her to marry a cousin of the king. Head of government (1792-1798 and 1801-1808), it was he who ended the war against France (1795), thus earning his title of "Prince of Peace". But his ambivalent policy towards Napoleon in 1801 and then in 1806 (he called for taking up arms against France) ended up causing his downfall when the Spanish sovereigns were dethroned in 1808. From then on, he no longer played any role political and died in exile in France.
Why Oranges?
It is an episode from the siege of Elvas which decides the name of this short war: two soldiers picked branches of orange trees loaded with fruit which were then sent by Godoy to the Queen of Spain Marie-Louise with this message casual: “I lack everything, but without anything I will go to Lisbon. »
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