16 of January 1809
The battle of Elviña, in A Coruña, in which Sir John Moore lost his life after being injured by French canon fire.
17 of January 1809
The English set sail on a return journey to their country.
19 of January 1809
General Alcedo hands over A Coruña to the French without any resistance whatsoever.
21 of January 1809
Ferrol surrenders. The Craufurd division brings news of these surrenders to Vigo.
23 of January 1809
The Committee for the Defence of Vigo is created and Mr. Francisco Xavier Vázquez Varela is elected as the Mayor of Vigo.
3 of January 1809
Sir John Moore enters Galicia with the British army, which is pursued by Napoleon’s troops under Marshalls Ney and Soult.
30 of January 1809
Vigo surrenders under pressure from three squadrons of General Franceschi, who left Jacobo Antonio Chalot as Commanding Officer.
14 of February 1809
The Abbot of Couto (A Cañiza), Mauricio Troncoso & Sotomayor, confronts the French cavalry in Creciente, killing 15 soldiers and taking 51 prisoners, besides also capturing a number of horses.
The Abbot of Valadares, Juan Rosendo Arias Enríquez, and the Mayor of Fragoso, Cayetano Parada & Pérez de Limia, begin an uprising of the locals against the French.
2 of February 1809
Tui surrenders. General Lana Martiniere is named General Commander of the province of Tui.
March 1809
Mr. Joaquín Tenreiro Montenegro raised the people from the region of Vigo in arms against the French. He contacted Juan Bautista Almeyda & Sousa, a Portuguese who joined the rebellion.
12 of March 1809
Tenreiro’s troops meet up with those of the Abbot of Valadares and of the Abbot of Fragoso in Zamanes. They decide to reconquer Vigo.
12 of March 1809
12-19th March: Start of the skirmishes in the area of Vigo. Several "vanguards" were sited at the higher levels of the city, the most important ones located at Puxeiros, from where the entire valley of Fragoso and A Salgueira can be dominated.
On the sea front, a blockade was laid by the English frigates "Lively" and "Venus", as well as on all vessels from Cangas and all of Morrazo in order to prevent the possible escape of the French.
16 of March 1809
Captain Pablo Morillo presents himself before the Abbot of Valadares in Zamanes. He was commissioned by the Supreme Committee to coordinate the fight in the South of Galicia.
20 of March 1809
The siege is tightened and reinforced with 500 countrymen from Morrazo, who land in Bouzas, protected by the English frigates.
20 of March 1809
Horrible crime in a tavern (that of Juana Rial), when French soldiers cold bloodedly killed three countrymen and then buried them under the sand along the seashore.
21 of March 1809
A new emissary, Mr. Joaquín Tenreiro Montenegro, was sent, who threatens to knife the entire garrison if they do not surrender.
23 of March 1809
News arrives of the proximity of French reinforcements and 2000 men are sent to Ponte Sampaio under the command of Almeyda, to engage them in battle while the Abbot of Valadares maintains siege on Vigo.
25 of March 1809
Chalot orders the gates of the city be thrown open so that residents could go to fetch provisions. There is strict inspection at the gates to prevent arms from being taken out or brought in.
Captain Pablo Morillo returns to Zamanes to join the siege. He was joined by the Captain of the Grenadiers, Bernardo González "Cachamuíña" and about 600 men.
Morillo converts himself into Coronel creating a great division amongst the chiefs of the rebellion. The reason behind such an improvised promotion is that Chalot refused to surrender to any low ranking officer.
26 of March 1809
Tenreiro reinitiates talks with Chalot, who promises to give him a reply about his surrender at 12:00 hours the following day. In the mean time, Morillo ignores the rest and begins work on his own.
27 of March 1809
Surrender is negotiated between Chalot and Morillo aboard an English vessel. Morillo gives Chalot an hour’s deadline to surrender whilst the town is anxious and rebellious waiting to engage in combat.
27 of March 1809
20:30 hours: The battle commences.
Carolo, a fisherman from Berbés, falls dead when he tried to break down Gamboa gate with an axe.
Cachamuíña gets injured with four gun shots when he tried to continue Carolo’s action of destroying Gamboa gate.
Meanwhile, Morillo tries to contain the assault because the French had already signed the surrender document.
22:00 hours: Morillo manages to get others to pay heed. The battle ceases. The French manage to hand over their surrender document and there is agreement to hand over the town the following day.
28 of March 1809
Morillo’s troops together with those of the Abbot of Valadares and those of Joaquín Tenreiro assemble at Areal. The French troops leave the walled fort in single file. There are 46 officers and 1213 sergeants, corporals and soldiers. All of them are taken onboard the English ships for evacuation.
A short while later, the people of Vigo take over Castro fort where there were another 600 French troops quartered.
General Lana Martiniere’s troops arrive from Tui but they are defeated. Only 50 of the 450 French soldiers were able to return to the city of Miño.
After the Reconquest: Bernardo González "Cachamuíña" is appointed Governor of Vigo.
Joaquín Tenreiro Montenegro was named Count of Vigo.
The Governing Committee confers the title of "city" to Vigo, with the motto "Faithful, Loyal and Brave".
