Episode 2 of 3

Battle of Bailén

Name: Battle of Bailén
Start: 1808-07-19
Location: Bailén

When: 19 July 1808
Where: Bailén
Part of: Summer 1808 turning points: First Siege of Zaragoza, Battle of Bailén, and the British landing near Porto

Spanish forces defeated French General Dupont at Bailén, marking the first open-field defeat of the Napoleonic army.

The Battle of Bailén involved Castaños's Army of Andalusia against Dupont's corps. Dupont surrendered on 19 July. This defeat was considered the first open-field loss for Napoleon's army in Europe, leading to French retreats and court-martials for Dupont.

Sources

Battle of Bailén Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-29
Peninsular War Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-23
Siege of Zaragoza (1808) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-22

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.