APRIL 1808 FRENCH TURN
In response to the Austrian advance, Murat, clad in his most splendid uniforms, assembles the Armee du Rhine at the Bavaraian border. Massena, while keeping a wary eye on the Russians, dispatches a mixed Franco-Polish force to menace Bohemia.
Napoleon remains in Paris attending to administrative matters, seemingly oblivious to the storm about to break.
In Spain, militia units spring up in response to the invasions. Blake marches his troops over the Sierra de Gate Range where he defeats Moore after a grueling two day battle.
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| Date | Name | Attacker | Defender | Description | Victor | Casualties |
| April 1808 | Mernos |  Blake 50,000 |
 Moore 30,000 |
Eager to erase any doubts over his willingness to fight lingering after the evacuation from Bayonne, Wellington marches 25,000 British regulars over the Spanish border at Ciudad Rodrigo. Blake, outnumbered almost 2 to 1 but with a total superiority in cavalry, chooses not to defend behind the city walls, lest it become a trap. The armies slug it out over the course of the day. Wellington finds his lack of cavalry a serious detriment but eventually the superior English musketry force Blake to quit the battle. The Spanish refuse to let themselves be trapped within the city walls. Blake slips away and joins Costanos to the southeast. The English pursuit is ineffectual. |
Spain |
20,000 English 20,000 Spanish |
The Russians shake off the inactivity of winter and fall on the french outpost at Grodno. Massena happens to be visitng the city when 75,000 Russians preceeded by a swarm of irregular cavalry suddenly appear. By the narrowest of margins, the King of Poland manages to save half the 10,000 man garrision (and his own skin). Farther north, Cossacks cross the Niemen at Kovno and enter Prussia.