Todos los caminos conducen a Verdún: los prisioneros de guerra británicos en la Guerra de la Independencia, 1808-1814

Authors

  • University of Liverpool

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v9i18.622

Keywords:

Guerras Napoleónicas, Guerra de Independencia, prisioneros de guerra, Ejército británico, leyes de la guerra

Abstract

La Revolución Francesa ha sido vista generalmente como un momento clave en la evolución del modo de hacer la guerra; un momento en el cual el mundo se embarcó en una época de guerra total. Teóricamente, esto transformaba todos los aspectos de ese modo de hacer la guerra, incluyendo también la cuestión del tratamiento de los prisioneros de guerra. Así, según planteaban los revolucionarios más radicales, especialmente el Comité de Seguridad Pública, los prisioneros debían ser todos ejecutados, haciéndose particular referencia a los soldados y marineros británicos. En este artículo, que se ciñe exclusivamente a las experiencias de los prisioneros en los propios teatros de guerra (las vividas una vez llegaron a Francia se discuten en otra contribución a este mismo dossier), estas cuestiones se abordarán a través del prisma de los 5.000 prisioneros de guerra que se estima fueron capturados por las fuerzas de Napoleón Bonaparte durante la Guerra de la Independencia de 1808-1814, usando para ello las memorias y otros trabajos elaborados por los combatientes en los años posteriores al conflicto. El análisis de estas narrativas permite establecer que, si es que llegó a existir en algún caso, el nuevo que el Comité de Salud Pública impuso al ejército francés no se implementó ni en España ni en Portugal. La violencia y brutalidad ejercidas sobre los prisioneros podrían ser mayores o menores en función de las particulares condiciones del momento de su captura, por lo que ciertamente existía la posibilidad de que fuesen ejecutados inmediatamente. No obstante, en líneas generales no hubo excesiva diferencia con lo que había sucedido en conflictos anteriores, ni con lo que sucedería posteriormente: para la tropa en particular, las condiciones de su captura raramente eran buenas, aunque los oficiales fueron siempre tratados con bastante cortesía. De igual modo, los prisioneros que habían sido heridos recibían siempre toda la atención médica disponible. En definitiva, por mucho que estos sufriesen durante su cautiverio, los soldados británicos vivieron una experiencia como prisioneros de guerra muy similares a las que habían vivido sus predecesores en guerras anteriores. De este modo, el modo de hacer la guerra que se vio en España y Portugal no fue en ningún caso el inicio de una nueva época de barbarie, sino más bien la supervivencia de las normas de conducta en el campo de batalla que habían caracterizado las guerras del siglo XVIII.  

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Author Biography

  • , University of Liverpool
    Charles Esdaile holds a personal chair in the Department of History at the University of Liverpool, and is the author of numerous books on the Napoleonic era. Chief among these are Napoleon’s Wars: an International History (Penguin Books, 2007), Peninsular Eye-Witnesses: the Experience of War in Spain and Portugal, 1808-14 (Pen and Sword, 2008) and The Wars of Napoleon (second edition; Routledge and Keegan Paul, 2019).

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Published

2020-06-08

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 18 (2020): La figura del prisionero de guerra en la Edad Moderna: fuentes, percepciones, vivencias y sociabilidad

Section

Dossier

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How to Cite

Todos los caminos conducen a Verdún: los prisioneros de guerra británicos en la Guerra de la Independencia, 1808-1814. (2020). Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 9(18), 109-132. https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v9i18.622

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