A history of the Peninsular War, Vol. 5, Oct. 1811-Aug. 31, 1812

by Charles Oman

IX

THE SIEGE OF BADAJOZ, MARCH 15-APRIL 6, 1812

(A) STRENGTH OF THE FRENCH GARRISON ON MARCH 15

[See the Tables in Belmas, iv. pp. 364-5 and in Jones, i. p. 229.]

Staff			25
Infantry:
3/9th Léger	officers	and men	580
1/28th Léger	”	”	597
1/58th Ligne	”	”	450
3/88th Ligne	”	”	600
3/103rd Ligne	”	”	540
64th Ligne (2 companies)	”	”	130
Hesse-Darmstadt (2 batts.)	”	”	910
Juramentados			54	= 3,861 infantry.
Cavalry			42
Artillery			261
Engineers and Sappers			260
Sick in Hospital			300
Civil Departments, non-combatants, &c.			254
			5,003

A report of the governor at noon on April 5, found among his papers after the storm, gave the following as surviving under arms (sick excluded)—infantry 3,403, artillery 282, engineers 217, cavalry 50, Juramentados 86. This report, printed in Jones, i. p. 230, implies a higher original total than Belmas allows—the artillery and Juramentados are actually more numerous on April 5 than on March 15! And the infantry are only 458 less, despite of losses of a considerably higher figure, for another paper of the commandant shows (Jones, i. p. 230)—Sortie of March 19: killed 30, wounded 287=317[769]. Storm of Picurina Fort: killed or prisoners, 8 officers, 278 men = 286. We have thus 603 casualties in these two affairs only, beside the ordinary wear and tear of the siege.

Noting the considerable number of ‘round figures’ in Belmas’s table, I am inclined to think that the total of the garrison must have been a few hundreds over what he allows.

(B) LOSSES AT STORM OF BADAJOZ, APRIL 6, 1811

[From the Returns at the Record Office.]

	Killed.		Wounded.		Missing.
	Officers.	Men.	Officers.	Men.	Officers.	Men.	Total.
General Staff	1	—	16	—	—	—	17
Royal Artillery	1	6	1	9	—	—	17
Royal Engineers	2	—	3	5	—	—	10
Assistant Engineers	—	—	3	—	—	—	3
Third Division.
Kempt’s Brigade:
1/45th Foot	6	19	8	64	—	—	97
3/60th Foot	1	4	4	26	—	—	35
74th Foot	—	12	7	33	—	2	54
1/88th Foot	3	28	7	106	—	—	144
J. Campbell’s Brigade:
2/5th Foot	1	11	3	28	—	—	43
77th Foot	—	—	3	11	—	—	14
2/83rd Foot	1	22	7	39	—	—	69
94th Foot	1	12	1	51	—	—	65
Total 3rd Division	13	108	40	358	—	2	521
Fourth Division.
Kemmis’s Brigade:
3/27th Foot	4	37	12	132	—	—	185
1/40th Foot	2	51	13	170	—	—	236
Bowes’s Brigade:
1/7th Foot	5	44	12	119	—	—	180
1/23rd Foot	3	22	14	92	—	20	151
1/48th Foot	3	32	16	122	—	—	173
Total 4th Division	17	186	67	635	—	20	925
Fifth Division.
Hay’s Brigade:
3/1st Foot	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1/9th Foot	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2/38th Foot	2	37	7	88	—	—	42
Walker’s Brigade:
1/4th Foot	2	40	15	173	—	—	230
2/30th Foot	—	38	6	86	—	—	130
2/44th Foot	2	37	7	88	—	—	134
Total 5th Division	5	127	31	373	—	—	536
Light Division:
1/43rd Foot	3	74	15	249	—	—	341
1/52nd Foot	5	53	14	248	—	—	320
1/95thd Foot	3	27	10	154	—	—	194
3/95th Foot	4	9	4	47	—	—	64
Total Light Division	15	163	43	698	—	—	919
Brunswick Oels, dispersed in companies in 4th and 5th Divisions	—	7	2	26	—	—	35
Total British loss	54	597	206	2,104	—	22	2,983
Portuguese	8	147	45	500	—	30	730
General Total	62	744	251	2,604	—	52	3,713
Losses during previous operations	10	219	54	661	—	13	957

The total loss during the siege and storm would therefore appear to have been 4,670.

---