The Battle of Alcañiz resulted in the defeat of Major-General Louis Gabriel Suchet's French army on May 23, 1809 by a Spanish force under General Joaquín Blake y Joyes. The victory is credited to General García Loigorri's superb command of the Spanish artillery, which allowed the French columns to close and then mauled them with well-directed salvos. Loigorri was later promoted to Field Marshal and became the first artillery officer ever to receive the Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand.