Most historians, including the Count of Toreno, Arteche, Oman, etc.,[1] consider Lili e Idiáquez's capitulation to General Suchet at the Siege of Tortosa (1810–1811) was weak-spirited and unnecessary.
Following the rout of Duke of Bailén's Army of the Centre at the Battle of Tudela (November 1808),[2] Alacha earned "won some credit"[3] for managing to avoid being intercepted by the French divisions around him after having become separated from the main body, and bringing his brigade intact to Cuenca, where the Duke of the Infantado, now commander in chief of that army, was camped.
[2] Following the defeat of the Army of the Centre, now commanded by Cartaojal, at the Battle of Ciudad Real, Lili e Idiáquez formed the rearguard escorting the retreating Artillery.
At the siege there, he was wounded in the leg during a sortie and finally surrendered the place, along with 9,000 men, to General Suchet in January 1811.
[1] Taken prisoner to France, that same month Lili e Idiáquez was trialled in absentia in Tarragona and convicted for treason because of the capitulation and his image was beheaded in public.