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Battle of Salamanca

1812 in SpainBattle honours of the King's Royal Rifle CorpsBattles in Castile and LeónBattles involving FranceBattles involving Portugal
Battles involving SpainBattles involving the United KingdomBattles of the Napoleonic WarsBattles of the Peninsular WarConflicts in 1812EngvarB from July 2019History of the province of SalamancaJuly 1812 eventsKing's German LegionUse shortened footnotes from May 2021
Wellington a Salamanca
Wellington a Salamanca

The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of the Arapiles) on 22 July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, south of Salamanca, Spain, during the Peninsular War. A Spanish division was also present but took no part in the battle. The battle involved a succession of flanking manoeuvres in oblique order, initiated by the British heavy cavalry brigade and Pakenham's 3rd Division and continued by the cavalry and the 4th, 5th and 6th divisions. These attacks resulted in a rout of the French left wing. Marmont and his deputy commander, General Bonet, received shrapnel wounds in the first few minutes of firing. Confusion amongst the French command may have been decisive in creating an opportunity, which Wellington seized. General Bertrand Clauzel, third in seniority, assumed command and ordered a counter-attack by the French reserve toward the depleted Allied centre. The move proved partly successful but with Wellington having sent his reinforcements to the centre, the Anglo-Portuguese forces prevailed. Allied losses numbered 3,129 British and 2,038 Portuguese dead or wounded. The Spanish troops took no part in the battle as they were positioned to block French escape routes and suffered just six casualties. The French suffered about 13,000 dead, wounded and captured. As a consequence of Wellington's victory, his army was able to advance to and liberate Madrid for two months, before retreating to Portugal. The French were forced to abandon Andalusia permanently while the loss of Madrid irreparably damaged King Joseph's pro-French government.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Battle of Salamanca (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Battle of Salamanca
Alto Arapil - Vía Verde,

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Latitude Longitude
N 40.889166666667 ° E -5.6247222222222 °
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Memorial Batalla de Los Arapiles

Alto Arapil - Vía Verde
37190
Castile and León, Spain
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Wellington a Salamanca
Wellington a Salamanca
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Roman bridge of Salamanca
Roman bridge of Salamanca

The Roman bridge of Salamanca (in Spanish: Puente romano de Salamanca), also known as Puente Mayor del Tormes, is a Roman bridge crossing the Tormes River on the banks of the city of Salamanca, in Castile and León, Spain. The importance of the bridge as a symbol of the city can be seen in the first quartering of city's coat of arms (along with its stone bull-verraco). It has been known traditionally as puente mayor and as puente prinçipal (main bridge) which gives access to the southern part of the city. The bridge as it currently appears is a result of several restorations. One of the disasters that most affected it was the Flood of San Policarpo on the night of January 26, 1626. It was declared Artistic Historic Monument on June 3, 1931, and Bien de Interés Cultural in 1998. Until the beginning of 20th century it carried the main road into the city, and continued to bear heavy traffic until 1973. Since the construction of a third bridge for road traffic it remains exclusive for pedestrians. The bridge is actually a construction of two bridges separated by a central fortification: the old bridge which extends along the portion near the city is of Roman origin, and the new bridge. Of the twenty-six arches, only the first fifteen date from Roman times. The stone used in its construction differs in origin, while employed in Roman bridge area is originally from the granite quarries of Los Santos (Béjar), the stone used in the hispana part and more modern bridge, comes from the area of Ledesma. The bridge has been restored on numerous occasions and has survived several attempts at demolition. Many of the restorations have been poorly documented, leaving for the study of archaeologists a great part of the work of determination, dating and explaining the ancient construction techniques. The date of the construction of the bridge is not precisely known, but is among the mandates of the Emperors Augustus (27 B. C.-14 D. C.) and Vespasian (69-79), making it a bimillennium architectural monument.