V

THE SPANISH ARMY IN 1808

[Mainly from the table in Arteche, vol. i, Appendix 9.]

N.B.—The numbers are taken from returns made on various days between March and June, 1808. They include only rank and file. The officers should have been ninety-eight to a regiment of guards, seventy to a line regiment, forty-one to a light battalion, thirty-four to a militia battalion, forty-two to a cavalry regiment. But most corps were under strength in officers, no less than in men, in June, 1808, and Arteche, giving every regiment of infantry a complete staff of officers, is clearly over-estimating them. He gives e.g. 2,450 officers of line infantry, the possible maximum, while the Estado Militar for 1808 gives only 1,521 present; so with the militia he gives 1,887 officers, while apparently there were only 1,230 actually existing. It would seem that his gross total of 7,222 officers ought to be cut down to 5,911. For the rank and file we get:—

ROYAL GUARD.

Cavalry.

Numbers. Quartered in

Life Guards 615 } Old Castile and Madrid.

Royal Carabineers 540

Total 1,155

Infantry.

Numbers. Quartered in

Halberdiers
(one compy.) 152 } Madrid.

Spanish Guards
(three batts.) 3,294 } 1, 2 Barcelona.
3 New Castile.

Walloon Guards
(three batts.) 2,583 } 1 Madrid.
2 Barcelona.
3 Portugal.

Total 6,029

INFANTRY OF THE LINE.

N.B.—Each regiment had three battalions of four companies, and should have numbered 2,186 bayonets.

Numbers. Quartered in

Africa 898 { 1, 3 Andalusia.
2 S. Sebastian.

America 808 { 1 New Castile.
2, 3 Valencia.

Aragon 1,294 Galicia.

Asturias 2,103 Denmark.

Borbon 1,544 Balearic Isles.

Burgos 1,264 Andalusia.

Cantabria 1,024 Ceuta (Africa).

Ceuta 1,235 Ceuta (Africa).

Cordova 793 Andalusia.

Corona 902 Andalusia.

España 1,039 Ceuta (Africa).

Estremadura 770 Catalonia.

Granada 1,113 Balearic Isles.

Guadalajara 2,069 Denmark.

Jaen 1,755 { 1, 2 Andalusia.
3 Ceuta (Africa).

Leon 1,195 Galicia.

Majorca 1,749 { 1, 2 Portugal.
3 Estremadura.

Malaga 854 Andalusia.

Murcia 1,762 { 1, 2 Portugal.
3 Andalusia.

Navarre 822 Galicia.

Ordenes
Militares 708 { 1 Estremadura.
2, 3 Andalusia.

Princesa 1,969 Denmark.

Principe 1,267 Galicia.

Reina 1,530 Andalusia.

Rey 1,353 { 1 S. Sebastian.
2 Portugal.
3 Galicia.

Saragossa 1,561 { 1, 2 Portugal.
3 Andalusia.

Savoia 936 Valencia.

Seville 1,168 Galicia.

Soria 1,311 Balearic Isles.

Toledo 1,058 { 1, 2 Galicia.
3 Portugal.

Valencia 923 Murcia.

Volunteers
of Castile 1,487 Murcia.

Voluntarios
de la Corona 1,296 { 1 Portugal.
2, 3 Galicia.

Voluntarios
del Estado 742 Madrid.

Zamora 2,096 Denmark.

Total 44,398

LIGHT INFANTRY.

N.B.—The regiment had only a single battalion of six companies. It should have numbered 1,200 bayonets.

Numbers. Quartered in

1st of Aragon 1,305 { Madrid and
Saragossa.

2nd of Aragon 1,225 Balearic Isles.

Barbastro 1,061 { ½ Andalusia.
½ Portugal.

1st of Barcelona 1,266 Denmark.

2nd of Barcelona 1,300 Balearic Isles.

Campo Mayor 1,153 { ½ Portugal.
½ Andalusia.

1st of Catalonia 1,164 Denmark.

2nd of Catalonia 685 Galicia.

Gerona 1,149 { ½ Portugal.
½ Andalusia.

Tarragona 1,142 { ½ Pampeluna.
½ Estremadura.

Volunteers
of Navarre 963 { ½ Portugal.
½ Galicia.

Volunteers
of Valencia 1,242 { ½ Portugal.
½ Andalusia.

Total 13,655

FOREIGN INFANTRY.

N.B.—The Swiss Regiments had two battalions, the others three.

Numbers. Quartered in

Irish.

Irlanda 513 { 1 Estremadura.
2, 3 Andalusia.

Hibernia 852 { 1 Asturias.
2, 3 Galicia.

Italian.

Naples 288 Galicia.

Swiss.

1. Wimpfen 2,079 Catalonia.

2. Reding Senior 1,573 New Castile.

3. Reding Junior 1,809 Andalusia.

4. Beschard 2,051 Balearic Isles.

5. Traxler 1,757 Murcia.

6. Preux 1,708 Madrid.

Total 12,981

MILITIA.

N.B.—The four grenadier regiments had two battalions each, and should have been 1,600 strong; the rest one battalion, 600 strong.

Numbers. Quartered in

Prov. Gren. of

Old Castile 1,605 Portugal.

New Castile 1,430 Portugal.

Andalusia 1,413 Andalusia.

Galicia 1,377 { 1 Galicia.
2 Portugal.

Alcazar 595 Andalusia.

Avila 574 Valencia.

Badajoz 589 Andalusia.

Betanzos 599 Galicia.

Burgos 577 Andalusia.

Bujalance 594 Andalusia.

Chinchilla 577 Andalusia.

Ciudad Real 575 Andalusia.

Ciudad Rodrigo 585 Andalusia.

Compostella 599 Galicia.

Cordova 584 Andalusia.

Cuenca 596 Andalusia.

Ecija 589 Andalusia.

Granada 553 Andalusia.

Guadix 588 Andalusia.

Jaen 584 Andalusia.

Jerez 574 Andalusia.

Laredo 571 Santander.

Leon 591 Galicia.

Logroño 558 Andalusia.

Lorca 562 Andalusia.

Lugo 589 Galicia.

Majorca 570 Balearic Isles.

Malaga 401 Andalusia.

Mondoñedo 591 Galicia.

Monterrey 591 Galicia.

Murcia 564 Murcia.

Orense 584 Galicia.

Oviedo 543 Asturias.

Plasencia 593 Andalusia.

Pontevedra 568 Galicia.

Ronda 574 Andalusia.

Salamanca 600 Galicia.

Santiago 596 Galicia.

Segovia 591 Galicia.

Seville 547 Andalusia.

Siguenza 579 Andalusia.

Soria 582 Valencia.

Toledo 579 Andalusia.

Toro 553 Andalusia.

Truxillo 567 Andalusia.

Tuy 583 Galicia.

Valladolid 562 Galicia.

Total 30,527

CAVALRY.

N.B.—Each regiment had five squadrons, and should have numbered about 700 sabres.

1. Heavy Cavalry.

Regiment. Numbers. Quartered in

1st Rey 634 Denmark.

2nd Reina 668 Old Castile.

3rd Principe 573 New Castile.

4th Infante 615 Denmark.

5th Borbon 616 Catalonia.

6th Farnesio 517 Andalusia.

7th Alcantara 589 Portugal.

8th España 553 Andalusia.

9th Algarve 572 Denmark.

10th Calatrava 670 Andalusia.

11th Santiago 549 Portugal.

12th Montesa 667 Andalusia.

Total 7,232

2. Light Cavalry.

Cazadores. Numbers. Quartered in

1st Rey 577 Madrid.

2nd Reina 581 Portugal.

3rd Almanza 598 Denmark.

4th Pavia 663 Andalusia.

5th Villaviciosa 628 Denmark.

6th Sagunto 499 Andalusia.

Hussars. Numbers. Quartered in

1st Numancia 630 Valencia.

2nd Lusitania 554 Madrid.

3rd Olivenza 558 Portugal.

4th Voluntarios
de España 548 New Castile.

5th Maria Luisa 680 Estremadura.

6th Españoles 692 Balearic Isles.

Total 7,208

A scheme was on foot for converting eight of the light regiments into dragoons. Several of them are designated sometimes as dragoons, sometimes as cazadores or hussars.

N.B.—The 14,440 troopers had only 9,526 horses!

ARTILLERY.

1. Field.

Numbers. Quartered in

1st Regiment 1,143 Catalonia.

2nd Regiment 1,146 Valencia and Murcia.

3rd Regiment 1,078 Andalusia.

4th Regiment 1,043 Galicia.

Total 4,410

Each regiment consisted of ten batteries; of the whole forty, six were horse-artillery. 477 men (four batteries) were in Denmark.

2. Garrison.

Two ‘Brigades’ and fifteen ‘Compañias Fijas’ at various places, in all 1,934.

Adding general staff, &c., the total of the artillery, field and garrison, was 292 officers and 6,679 men.

ENGINEERS.

169 officers and a battalion of sappers. The latter was quartered at Alcala de Henares, and had a strength of 922 men, besides 127 detached in Denmark.

GENERAL TOTAL (Rank and File only).

Infantry. Cavalry. Artillery. Engineers.

Royal Guard 6,029 1,155

Infantry of the Line 44,398

Light Infantry 13,655

Foreign Infantry 12,981

Militia 30,527

Cavalry 14,440

Artillery 6,679

Engineers 1,049

107,590 15,595 6,679 1,049 = 130,913

Add 5,911 officers, and we get a gross total of 136,824.