Hi Bernard,

this is a question I’ve been pondering regards the Peninsular War. In the game Napoleon Total War (more precisely its DLC that focuses on the Peninsular War) once the player – as Great Britain – captures a key town or city from the French occupation, they have the choice of liberating it back to Spanish control, or keeping it within British jurisdiction thus utilizing all the trade, commerce, and facilities that goes with it. However, in reality, did this happen, or was it more complex than the game illustrates? I do remember in Sharpe’s Sword episode about Mungo Munro returning from Burgos with a cannon – so, did the British military commandeer certain installations (barracks, armouries, and such) rather than a complete jurisdiction, or was it a shared control with Spanish civil authorities? Were there any legal clashes?

Robert Douglas