TO CONQUER AND KEEP: Suchet and the War for Eastern Spain, 1809-1814Volume 1 - 1809-1811

1-237611

Examines French Marshal Suchet's successes and failures in his Spanish sieges, battles, counter-guerrilla operations, and administration. Volume 1 addresses the opening battles between Suchet and the Spanish commander Joaquin Blake, showing how Suchet recovered from an initial defeat to decisively crush his opponent, before considering the string of successful sieges that ended with the fall of Tarragona and a Marshal's baton.

Through a string of brilliant battlefield victories and sieges against Spanish regular forces as well as an initially successful counter-guerrilla campaign, Suchet managed to not only secure French control of Aragon, but moved on to conquer Lower Catalonia and Valencia as well. Like all French commanders in the Peninsular War, Suchet was faced with the challenges of Spanish popular resistance, but stood out above his colleagues for his notable success in pacifying Aragon.

Yet despite initial triumphs in 1809-1811 against the 'traditional guerrilla', Suchet's counter-guerrilla policies were less successful than is often popularly perceived. As the war went on, French resources became thinly stretched, while conversely, the guerrilla war was increasingly spearheaded by Spanish regular forces to great efficiency, which contributed to the eventual collapse of French control in Eastern Spain. Includes 16 b/w illustrations, 11 color illustrations, and 11 maps.

Napoleon once famously remarked 'If I had had two Marshals like Suchet, I should not only have conquered Spain, but have kept it.'