The 20,000 to 30,000 French troops compelled 16,000 Spanish soldiers to surrender at the conclusion of the siege, although another 7,000 Spaniards escaped from the trap.

[2] The port of Tarragona fell to the French on 29 June 1811 as a British naval squadron stood helplessly offshore.

The loss of the port involved most of the Army of Catalonia and therefore left Spanish forces in the area gravely weakened.

During the summer and fall of 1811, Suchet seized Montserrat, triumphed over Captain General Blake at Benaguasil, and captured the port of Oropesa del Mar.

On 15 September, 25,000 French invaded Valencia and once again defeated Blake at the Battle of Saguntum on 26 October, where Suchet sustained a severe wound in his shoulder.

Counting 5,535 troops, the 3rd Army had the brigades of Generals Creagh and Montijo plus eight squadrons of cavalry and one horse artillery battery.

[5] Blake deployed his army facing generally north with his right wing on the coast, his right-center in Valencia, his left-center at Mislata, and his left at Manises.

He planned to take the divisions of Harispe, Musnier, Reille, and Boussart in a wide sweep around the open Spanish flank.

Suchet directed Habert to break through along the coast, while Palombini attacked Mislata and Compère observed the Spanish lines.

The handful of French horsemen were wiped out, while Boussart was cut down and left for dead, his sword and decorations pilfered.

[8] General Nicolás de Mahy, in overall command of the left flank, realized that his troops were in danger of being encircled.

Suchet wasted little time, digging the first siege parallels on 1 January and taking the outer defenses under fire three days later.

However, with Napoleon transferring troops from Spain to support his upcoming invasion of Russia, operations soon ground to a halt due to a lack of soldiers.

Out of about 850 troops, only the governor of the fortress of Tortosa, General of Brigade Jacques Mathurin Lafosse and 22 dragoons escaped the trap.

At the cost of a few casualties, the French crushed the outnumbered Spanish force, inflicting a loss of 2,000 killed, wounded, and captured as well as taking both cannons.

The Spanish commander General Garcia Navarro, however, was pro-French and quickly came to terms with Severoli, handing over the castle on 2 February and surrendering his 1,000 troops.

Their subsequent counteroffensive caused the British general to lift the Siege of Burgos and retreat to Portugal in the autumn of 1812.