Logbook · 7 places

The Carrera de Benavente

Benavente, Benavente y Los Valles, Zamora

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Activities · 2 Historical milestones

Spain › Castile and León › Zamora › Benavente y Los Valles › Benavente › The Carrera de Benavente

The Carrera de Benavente

Historical milestone · Benavente, Benavente y Los Valles, Zamora

Image of Benavente, not of the place itself.

During the Napoleonic occupation, the French general Lefebvre was captured in 1808 in the episode known as the Carrera de Benavente, within the Peninsular War; the counts' castle was destroyed in those same war years. The name, coined by French historiography, designates the headlong retreat of John Moore's British army towards La Coruña in late 1808, during which his troops committed acts of pillage against the population of the valleys before being reined in by their officers. The pursuit ended weeks later in the clash at Elviña, near La Coruña, where Moore himself died in January 1809.

1808-1809

Photo: Fundación Joaquín Díaz (CC BY-SA 3.0)

What to see and do in Benavente