The Battle of Ocana: The Army of Spain's Greatest Victory

Although the Battle of Ocana is without doubt the Army of Spain’s greatest victory, until F.O. Juarez and O.L. Ruiz Jaen brought out their beautiful book, la Batalla de Ocana, Campanas militares en la provincia de Toledo en 1809, there was no monograph on the event. The paradox is all too apparent. As a matter of national pride, Spanish historians could hardly be expected to tackle the question; from the French point of view, Napoleon, not being the Commander-in-Chief on that particular day and Imperial military history being strictly speaking Napoleonic, no historian had ever actually taken on the subject. As for the English, keen as they are on what they call the Peninsular War, since none of their troops took part in the event, they quite understandably neglected the Battle of Ocana, at least in detail. Now the French archives are simply overflowing with information about this glorious feat of arms for their army.