Panorama of the battlefield of Barrosa (Chiclana), looking
towards Cadiz from the crest of Barrosa Hill (now known as the
Loma de Sancti-Petri). Since January 1810, the Spanish port of
Cadiz had been besieged by a 25,000-strong French army commanded
by Victor. The force garrisoning Cadiz was of similar size,
comprising nearly 20,000 Spanish troops as well as a British-
Portuguese division of some 5,000-6,000 men under the command of
Lt.-Gen. Thomas Graham. When, in January 1811, Soult removed
almost a third of Victor's troops in order to reinforce his own
assault on Badajoz, the Allies saw their chance to draw Victor
into an open battle. Their plan was to ship an expeditionary
force 100km south along the coast from Cadiz so as to launch an
attack against Victor from inland. Graham landed at Algeciras
with 4,000 men on 23rd February. By the 27th, he had been joined
by 8,000 men of two Spanish divisions led by Lardizabal and the
Prince of Anglona, four squadrons of cavalry under Col. Samuel
Ford Whittingham - an