Hundreds of history buffs gathered in Burgos, northern Spain, over the weekend to take part in the re-enactment of the siege of Burgos Castle in 1812.

It was a commemoration of the fight between Napoleon's French troops and a 35,000-strong Anglo-Portuguese Army led by British commander Arthur Wellesley.

This battle was one of many that made up The Peninsular War (1808-1814), which was a clash between Napoleon's empire and the allied powers of Spain, Britain and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula.

General Wellesley's attempts to seize the fortress were successfully repulsed by the French.

But subsequent victories by Wellesley, or the first Duke of Wellington, by the end of the Peninsular War established his military genius. He went on to become the hero of Waterloo and vanquisher of Napoleon.