According to J. Belmas' Journaux des sièges dans la péninsule de 1807 à 1814 Volume 4, page 283, the Chief of Engineers for the French garrison was Captain Cathala. Does anyone know his first name?
Perhaps the assumption that he was captured is simply wrong. Are there any documents to prove this? He may have been able to escape (after all, he was an engineer officer and therefore probably knew loopholes that others did not know about), or he was simply absent, for some reason.
Possibly. . . but he would have had to evade capture and walk 100km from Ciudad Rodrigo to Salamanca. . . through an area that was hostile at the very least. If he was taken by guerrillas they would have probably killed him.
Mont-Louis is right for 1813. I have the "État du corps imperial du génie", Paris: Testu, printed 15. Oct. 1813: On page 24 Capt. Cathala is mentioned with this station. He was on place 23 of the Captains 2nd class then.
Thanks! Martiniere lists him being killed during the siege, yet Base Leonore says he was besieged at Ciudad Rodrigo in January 1812, but then commanded the engineers at Montlouis during 1813 and 1815. If he was at Ciudad Rodrigo during the 1812 siege, he would have been captured by the British. If he was captured how did he end up in Montlouis the next year?
Perhaps the assumption that he was captured is simply wrong. Are there any documents to prove this? He may have been able to escape (after all, he was an engineer officer and therefore probably knew loopholes that others did not know about), or he was simply absent, for some reason.
Mont-Louis is right for 1813. I have the "État du corps imperial du génie", Paris: Testu, printed 15. Oct. 1813: On page 24 Capt. Cathala is mentioned with this station. He was on place 23 of the Captains 2nd class then.
Best regards, Thomas
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