"About The Battle of Barrosa,5th March 1811" Topic

"Since January 1810, the Spanish port of Cadiz had been besieged by a 25,000-strong French army commanded by Victor. The force garrisoning Cadiz was of similar size, comprising nearly 20,000 Spanish troops as well as a British-Portuguese division of some 5,000-6,000 men under the command of Lt.-Gen. Thomas Graham. When, in January 1811, Soult removed almost a third of Victor's troops in order to reinforce his own assault on Badajoz, the Allies saw their chance to draw Victor into an open battle. Their plan was to ship an expeditionary force 100km south along the coast from Cadiz so as to launch an attack against Victor from inland.

Graham landed at Algeciras with 4,000 men on 23rd February. By the 27th, he had been joined by 8,000 men of two Spanish divisions led by Lardizabal and the Prince of Anglona, four squadrons of cavalry under Col. Samuel Ford Whittingham – an English officer serving with the Spanish army – 1,000 infantry from Gibraltar and 1,600 Spaniards from an irregular force led by Beguines. Graham had felt compelled to cede overall command of the expeditionary force to General Manuel La Peña, the senior officer at Cadiz, but generally held to be incompetent…"

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Amicalement
Armand

As of the winter of 2014-15, the crest of the hill was still free of development. The photograph above does not capture the steepness of the feature and its dominance of the surrounding countryside and coastline.

On the summit there is a sober monument erected on the bicentenary in 2011 with panels commemorating "the thousands of British, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and German soldiers who shed their blood on the hill, and whose descendants in a new millenium live together in a unified and peaceful Europe…" (Dateline 2020: Might need updating).

The panel in English refers to the site as 'El Puerco hill'- and in Spanish as Loma del Puerco, which in its fullest version is rendered as Cerro de la Cabeza del Puerco. Less musically, perhaps, this translates in Anglo-Saxon as 'Swine Hill' or 'Swine Point' (lit. 'Swine Head').

That may explain in part why Thomas Graham, already unimpressed with the conduct of General Lapenas and of the provisional government in Cadiz who exonerated the disgraced Spanish commander, subsequently declined their offer of the title 'Duque de la Cabeza del Puerco.'

Evidently, 'Lord Lynedoch' was sufficient recognition without the elevation to 'Duke of Pork Head.'

Seems you be there recently my friend… (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

I had the good fortune to be shown round by two friends from the late, lamented Napoleonic Wars forum, who are regular winter visitors to Cadiz. Down at beach level numerous pleasant places to watch the sun go down.

Thanks!.

Amicalement
Armand