ARTWORKS COLLECTION 'Battle of Sommosiera'

One of our pocket squares from 'artworks collection', in cooperation with National Muzeum in Warsaw.

Painting: 'Battle of Sommosiera' collection of the National Muzeum in Warsaw
Painter: January Suchodolski

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The Battle of Somosierra took place on November 30, 1808, during the Peninsular War, when a French army under Napoleon I forced a passage through the Sierra de Guadarrama shielding Madrid.

At the Somosierra mountain pass, 60 miles north of Madrid, a heavily outnumbered Spanish detachment of conscripts and artillery under Benito de San Juan aimed to block Napoleon's advance on the Spanish capital. Napoleon overwhelmed the Spanish positions in a combined armsattack, sending the Polish Chevau-légers of the Imperial Guard at the Spanish guns while French infantry advanced up the slopes. The victory removed the last obstacle barring the road to Madrid, which fell several days later.