Battle of Belchite (1809)

Battle of Belchite
Part of the Peninsular War
Date18 June 1809
Location41°18′N 0°45′W / 41.300°N 0.750°W / 41.300; -0.750
Result Franco-Polish victory
Belligerents
French Empire
Duchy of Warsaw
Kingdom of Spain
Commanders and leaders
Louis Gabriel Suchet Joaquín Blake
Strength
13,000 12,000
Casualties and losses
200 2,000
Peninsular War: Aragón Catalonia
220km
137miles
21
20
Castalla
19
18
Valencia
17
Saguntum
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
Belchite
4
María
3
2
1
  current battle

The Battle of Belchite on 18 June 1809 saw a Franco-Polish corps led by Louis Gabriel Suchet fight a small Spanish army under Joaquín Blake y Joyes. Suchet's force won the battle when a lucky hit detonated a large part of the Spanish ammunition supply. The ensuing blast provoked Blake's soldiers into a panicky flight from the battlefield. The action was fought during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Belchite is located 40 kilometres (25 mi) southeast of Zaragoza.