Siege of Pamplona
1823 CE.
Shown on the map at 42.817°, -1.650°.
The siege of Pamplona (French: siège de Pampelune, Spanish: asedio de Pamplona) took place in 1823 during the French invasion of Spain. The city of Pamplona in Navarre was besieged by the French Army and successfully taken. It was one of the more notable actions of the campaign along with the Battle of Trocadero. Following a dispute between Ferdinand VII the Liberal Government the King was seized, provoking a reaction from Ferdinand's fellow Bourbon monarch Louis XVIII of France. An expeditionary force under Duke of Angoulême crossed the Bidasoa on 7 April 1823. Forces were detached to Pamplona and San Sebastián. The main force under Angoulême pressed on to Madrid and then towards Seville, but these Liberal strongholds in otherwise royalist territory needed to be taken in order to secure lines of communication. Spanish Royalist forces began to surround Pamplona then waited for the arrival of French regulars. Initially Gabriel Molitor commanded the besiegers, but he then accompanied Infante Carlos to San Sebastian and command passed to Vincent Martel Deconchy until his death from illness. A steady bombardment from French siege artillery continued during the period.
Text from the Wikipedia article Siege of Pamplona (1823), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.