Battle of Igualdada (Napoleonic Age)

The Battle of Igualdada was the largest and bloodiest battle of the Spanish Campaign of the War of the Seventh Coalition. French Marshal André Masséna, commanding the Army of the South, defeated Lieutenant General Joaquín Blake's Army of Catalonia after a bloody two-day battle, the largest fought in Spain since the Battle of Salamanca in 1812. Though not a decisive victory – Blake was able to withdraw in reasonable order with most of his army – the battle dealt irreparable damage to the legitimacy of Ferdinand VII, who would rain for just three more months. Masséna's victory here reportedly made Napoléon I say, "Masséna is the man to which the Emperor prays each night."