GUERRA DE INDEPENDENCIA EN CATALUNA 1808-1809

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Beyond the Bruch and the sites of Gerona, little importance has given historiography to the war of independence in Catalonia. However, the French emperor considered this region so important for his plans, that after the first failures of General Duhesme, he gave command to one of his most capable generals, Gouvion Saint-Cyr, who led one of the most successful campaigns to remember. While Napoleon Bonaparte barred the Spanish armies in the center of the peninsula, Saint-Cyr did the same for all Catalonia. First the Count de Caldagues, then the general Vives and finally the Swiss Reding succumbed to the operational capacity and the speed of decisions of its French counterpart.

After the defeat of Valls, in February 1809, and coinciding with the capitulation of Zaragoza, all the Spanish Northwest was more or less pacified except for Gerona, which would take just a year to fall as well.