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By 1814, the Peninsular War had been ongoing since 1807 with Great Britain becoming involved in 1808, in response to Portugal and Spain requesting assistance. In 1807, France had invaded Portugal in order to prevent it trading with Britain, thereby forcing it to join the Continental System. In 1808, after taking Lisbon, Napoleon also laid claim to Spain, ending its uneasy allegiance to France. He forced Ferdinand VII to abdicate and made his elder brother, Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain. On 2 May 1808, following a series of uprisings, the Spanish declared war on France, with both its armies and civilians committed to fighting the invaders in pitched battles or as part of smaller groups of resistance using guerilla tactics to disrupt the French forces occupying their country.
On 16–19 July 1808, a Spanish army defeated a French army at the Battle of Bailén, taking some 18,000 prisoners-of-war. Joseph and his high command fled Madrid. In response, Napoleon personally came to Spain with 100,000 fresh troops, many veterans, and marshals. He gathered 280,000 troops, the Armeé d'Espagne, in northern Spain and advanced in November vowing to retake Spain in two months. On 4 December he reoccupied Madrid, having defeated the Spanish armies who lacked direction without a central government to command them.