1811 James Madison - Peninsular War and impact on Latin America

In 1807 when France and Spain were still allies, the French and Spanish armies invaded and occupied Portugal, but then in 1808 France turned on Spain and started the Peninsular War which lasted until 1814 when Napoleon was defeated by the Sixth coalition of Austria, Prussia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German states.

Between 1810 and 1812, the British led by Arthur Wellesly joined Spanish and Portuguese troops, were embroiled in a major battle against French troops in Portugal.   In 1810, the French invaded Portugal with an army of 65,000 and pushed back Wellington and the allied troops.  But then, in early 1811, reinforced by fresh British troops, Wellington began an offensive.  After losing several initial battles, the war fell into a temporary lull doe to torrential rains.   The superior French were unable to gain an advantage and began to become under increasing pressure from the Spanish guerillas.  The French had over 350,000 troops in the area, but over 200,000 of them were deployed to protect the French lines of supply, rather than fighting Wellington's troops.   Eventually, Wellington was able to renew  the allied advance and marched into Spain in early 1812.  The picture above shows the Battle of Barrosa which took place on March 5th, 1811.  In this battle, 9,600 Spanish troops joined 5,200 British and Portuguese troops to face a French force of 7,000.

These battles forced Spain to loosen their grip on South America, and allowed Great Britain to become the only major power in the Atlantic.  As President James Madison contemplated these very notable events ("momentous epoch") he saw an opportunity in Latin America.   There was an opportunity for America to exert it's influence with "reciprocal sentiments of good will" and take a deep interest in the their destinies.   This was one year before the war of 1812, and 12 years before America would flex her muscles under James Monroe, declaring an end to any further European colonization in Latin America.  Yep, James Madison was predicting the coming of the "Monroe Doctrine".   Madison did not know what the future held, but he urged Congress "not to be unprepared for whatever order of things may be ultimately established." 

Perhaps, this section from James Madison's 1811 annual address was written by his Secretary of State James Monroe.

"In contemplating the scenes which distinguish this momentous epoch, and estimating their claims to our attention, it is impossible to overlook those developing themselves among the great communities which occupy the southern portion of our own hemisphere and extend into our neighborhood. An enlarged philanthropy and an enlightened forecast concur in imposing on the national councils an obligation to take a deep interest in their destinies, to cherish reciprocal sentiments of good will, to regard the progress of events, and not to be unprepared for whatever order of things may be ultimately established."

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29453
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peninsular_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Sixth_Coalition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Madison
http://www.stateoftheunionhistory.com/2015/07/1823-james-monroe-monroe-doctrine.html
http://www.britishbattles.com/peninsula/peninsula-barossa.htm
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Battle_of_Chiclana.jpg