Second Siege of Zaragoza: Lannes opens the siege and Palafox surrenders

Background. Zaragoza, capital of Aragon, had already resisted a first siege from 15 June to 14 August 1808 as part of the Dos de Mayo Uprising. After the Battle of Tudela was over on 23 November 1808, the French turned to Zaragoza, though the siege did not commence until 20 December 1808. Since September 1808, Colonel Sangenís had been working on a number of modern fortifications for the city's defence.

Siege Operations. French preparations were finally complete on 10 January 1809, when bombardment of the Pillar Redoubt and San Jose commenced. The main assault began on 27 January 1809 through three breaches in the city walls. Lannes had decided on a slow block-by-block siege of each individual fortification in order to minimise French casualties. On 18 February 1809 a second attack on San Lazaro succeeded, and by 19 February the Spanish defence was failing.

Surrender and Casualties. By 19 February 1809 the Spanish defence was failing and Palafox himself was seriously ill. The first offer of surrender was rejected and fighting resumed on 20 February 1809, but the civilian council quickly negotiated to end the fighting, which ceased that evening. The city surrendered only after some 50,000 defenders had died.