Liberators and Tourists: British Soldiers in Madrid during the Peninsular War

On 12 August 1812, three weeks after the Battle of Salamanca, Wellington's victorious army, comprising 36,000 British and Portuguese troops, entered the gates of Madrid. Only a day earlier, Joseph Bonaparte had abandoned the capital of his fledgling kingdom, cramming four years' worth of belongings and loot into wagons bound for Valencia. Now, thousands of locals lined the streets and balconies to cheer and embrace the British redcoats. The soldiers were afforded a 'triumph' and three days of celebrations. For the next two weeks the majority of the army remained in Madrid, enjoying the Spanish capital, before over half the troops headed north with Wellington. The remaining soldiers stayed in or around Madrid until the end of October, almost three months since they had first entered the city.