First Battle of Porto

Last updated

First Battle of Porto
Part of the Peninsular War
LargeBattleofOportobyBeaume.jpg
Marshall Soult surveys the broken bridge as Oporto falls to the French on 29 March 1809. In the foreground a grenadier rescues an orphaned baby.
Date29 March 1809 [1]
Location
Porto, Portugal
41°9′43.71″N8°37′19.03″W / 41.1621417°N 8.6219528°W / 41.1621417; -8.6219528
Result French victory
Belligerents
Flag of Portugal (1750).svg Portugal Flag of France.svg French Empire
Commanders and leaders
Flag of Portugal (1750).svg Caetano José Vaz Parreiras Flag of France.svg Jean de Dieu Soult
Strength
30,000 [1] 16,000 [1]
Casualties and losses
8,000–10,000 killed [2]
Unknown wounded
500 killed or wounded [2]
Peninsular War: Second French invasion
First Battle of Porto
Invisible Square.svg
Invisible Square.svg
Mapscaleline.svg
100km
62miles
Sanpayo
6
Invisible Square.svg
Grijó
5
Invisible Square.svg
Porto
4
Invisible Square.svg
Braga
3
Invisible Square.svg
Villafranca
2
Invisible Square.svg
  current battle

In the First Battle of Porto (29 March 1809) the French under Marshal Soult defeated the Portuguese, under General Parreiras, outside the city of Porto [a] during the Peninsular War. Soult followed up his success by storming the city, [3] in the course of which thousands of fleeing citizens drowned in the Porto Boat Bridge disaster.

Contents

Background

The Second Portuguese campaign started with the Battle of Braga.

Soult's invasion of Portugal

Troop movements Batalha do Porto - 29Mar1809.jpg
Troop movements

After the Battle of Corunna, Napoleon ordered Marshal Nicolas Soult to invade Portugal from the north. He was to seize Porto by 1 February and Lisbon by 10 February. Napoleon failed to take into account both the wretched condition and the roads or the fact that a full-scale guerrilla war had broken out in Northern Portugal and Spain.

Battle of Porto reenactment, in 2009 Battle of Porto reenactment (2) 2009.jpg
Battle of Porto reenactment, in 2009

Soult's II Corps had four infantry divisions, commanded by Generals of Division Pierre Hugues Victoire Merle, Julien Augustin Joseph Mermet, Étienne Heudelet de Bierre, and Henri François Delaborde. Merle had four battalions each of the 2nd Light, 4th Light and 15th Line Infantry Regiments and three battalions of the 36th Line. Mermet's division included four battalions each of the 31st Light, 47th Line, and 122nd Line, and one battalion each of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Swiss Regiments. Heudelet led two battalions each of the 22nd Line and 66th Line, one battalion each of the 15th Light, 32nd Light, 82nd Line, Légion du Midi, Paris Guard, and Hanoverian Legion. Delaborde's command comprised three battalions each of the 17th Light, 70th Line, and 86th Line. General of Division Jean Baptiste Marie Franceschi-Delonne led Soult's corps cavalry, the 1st Hussar, 8th Dragoon, 22nd Chasseur à Cheval, and Hanoverian Chasseur Regiments. Attached were General of Division Armand Lebrun de La Houssaye's 3rd Dragoon Division and General of Division Jean Thomas Guillaume Lorge's 4th Dragoon Division. The 3rd Dragoon Division was made up of the 17th, 18th, 19th and 27th Dragoon Regiments. The 4th Dragoon Division consisted of the 13th, 15th, 22nd and 25th Dragoon Regiments. [4] In all, Soult had 23,500 men, including 3,100 cavalry. [5]

Soult's first attempt to invade Portugal was stopped by the local militia on 16 February. The French then moved northeast to Ourense in Spain, seized an unguarded bridge and marched south. On the way, Franceschi's cavalry overran Major General Nicolás Mahy's Spanish brigade at La Trepa on 6 March, inflicting 700 casualties. The French crossed into Portugal and occupied Chaves on 9 March.

From Chaves, Soult moved west to Póvoa de Lanhoso where he was confronted by Baron Eben's 25,000-man army composed mostly of Portuguese militia armed with muskets, pikes, and agricultural implements. After waiting several days for all his troops to arrive, Soult went over to the attack. On 20 March 1809, at the Battle of Braga the French veterans butchered their adversaries. The outmatched Portuguese lost 4,000 killed and 400 captured. The French, who lost 40 killed and 160 wounded, also seized 17 Portuguese cannons.

Battle

Bishop Castro organized an army of 24,000 men to defend Porto.

Generals Lima and Parreiras commanded two battalions, each of the 6th, 18th and 21st Infantry Regiments, and one battalion of the 9th and other units. The 4,500 Portuguese regulars were supported by 10,000 ordenanças (militia) and 9,000 armed citizens. When Soult hurled Merle, Mermet, Heudelet, Franceschi and Lahoussaye at the Portuguese deployed north of the city, on the weakest part of the Portuguese line of defence, Castro's force soon dissolved and the battle became a massacre. The Portuguese tried to escape from the French in the city but were chased by the French cavalry through the streets, and their regular units were annihilated.

The Boat Bridge Disaster

Thousands of fleeing civilians drowned in the Porto Boat Bridge disaster. The Ponte das Barcas ( Bridge of Boats) was a permanent pontoon bridge across the Douro River. Residents fled over the he bridge away from Porto towards the south, Gaia side, pursued by French troops. Some Portuguese units started to sabotage the bridge to prevent the French from crossing the river and the bridge collapsed because of the weight of people and of Portuguese artillery fire (coming from the left side of the Douro) who were aiming at the French cavalry behind the Portuguese soldiers and citizens. [5]

Capture of the city

In the roadstead, Soult captured a squadron of Spanish naval vessels and 30 merchant ships. The French also found large stockpiles of British military stores. In the battle and storming of the city, the French lost 72 officers and 2,000 rank and file casualties. The Portuguese lost about 8,000 killed and 197 cannons captured. [4]

Soult did not have very long to enjoy his success; Almost at once, the ordenanças cut his communications with Spain and a 1,800-man garrison was forced to capitulate to Francisco Silveira's Portuguese force in the Siege of Chaves. The French marshal started planning a retreat.

Aftermath

The Second Portuguese campaign proceeded with the Battle of Grijó. Porto was retaken by the British and Portuguese under Wellesley in the Second Battle of Porto.

See also

Notes

  1. Porto has traditionally been called Oporto in English.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Gamonal</span> 1808 Battle during the Peninsular War

The Battle of Gamonal was fought on 10 November 1808, during the Peninsular War in the village of Gamonal, near Burgos, Spain. A French army under Soult overwhelmed the outnumbered Spanish troops under General Belvedere, opening central Spain, including Madrid, to invasion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro</span> 1811 battle during the Peninsular War

At the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, the Anglo-Portuguese Army under Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal under Marshal André Masséna to relieve the besieged city of Almeida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Vimeiro</span> 1808 Battle during the Peninsular War

In the Battle of Vimeiro on 21 August 1808, the British under General Arthur Wellesley defeated the French under Major-General Jean-Andoche Junot near the village of Vimeiro, near Lisbon, Portugal, during the Peninsular War. This battle put an end to the first French invasion of Portugal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Chaves</span> 1809 siege during the Peninsular War

The siege of Chaves refers to the French siege and capture of Fort São Francisco and the town of Chaves, Portugal from 10 to 12 March 1809, and the subsequent siege and recapture of the fort by Portuguese forces from 21 to 25 March 1809, during the second French invasion of Portugal in the Peninsular War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Roliça</span> 1808 Battle during the Peninsular War

At the Battle of Roliça, the first battle fought by the British army during the Peninsular War, an Anglo-Portuguese army under Sir Arthur Wellesley defeated an outnumbered Imperial French division under General of Division Henri François Delaborde, near the village of Roliça in Portugal. The French retired in good order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Corunna</span> 1809 Battle of the Peninsular War

The Battle of Corunna, in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a British army under Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore. The battle took place amidst the Peninsular War, which was a part of the wider Napoleonic Wars. It was a result of a French campaign, led by Napoleon, which had defeated the Spanish armies and caused the British army to withdraw to the coast following an unsuccessful attempt by Moore to attack Soult's corps and divert the French army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Bussaco</span> 1810 battle during the Peninsular War

The Battle of Buçaco or Bussaco, fought on 27 September 1810 during the Peninsular War in the Portuguese mountain range of Serra do Buçaco, resulted in the defeat of French forces by Lord Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julien Augustin Joseph Mermet</span> French military general (1772–1837)

General Julien Augustin Joseph Mermet was a French army general. He fought in the Napoleonic Wars as a division commander in Italy and in the Peninsular War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Grijó</span> 1809 battle during the Peninsular War

The Battle of Grijó ended in victory for the Anglo-Portuguese Army commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley over the French army commanded by Marshal Nicolas Soult during the Second French invasion of Portugal in the Peninsular War. The next day, Wellesley drove Soult from Porto in the Second Battle of Porto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Combat of the Côa</span> 1810 combat during the Peninsular War

The Combat of the Côa was a military engagement that occurred during the Peninsular War period of the Napoleonic Wars. It took place in the valley of the Côa River and it was the first significant battle for the new army of 65,000 men controlled by Marshal André Masséna, as the French prepared for their third invasion of Portugal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Battle of Porto</span> 1809 battle during the Peninsular War

The Second Battle of Porto, also known as the Battle of the Douro or the Crossing of the Douro, took place on 12 May 1809. General Arthur Wellesley's Anglo-Portuguese Army defeated Marshal Soult's French troops and took back the city of Porto. After taking command of the British troops in Portugal on 22 April, Wellesley immediately advanced on Porto and made a surprise crossing of the Douro River, approaching Porto where its defences were weak. Soult's late attempts to muster a defence were in vain. The French quickly abandoned the city in a disorderly retreat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Henri Loison</span> French general (1771-1816)

Louis Henri Loison briefly joined the French Army in 1787 and after the French Revolution became a junior officer. Blessed with military talent and courage, he rapidly rose to general officer rank during the French Revolutionary Wars. He got into difficulties because of his fondness for plundering. In late 1795 he helped Napoleon Bonaparte crush a revolt against the government. After a hiatus, he returned in 1799 to fight in Switzerland where he earned another promotion. In 1800 he commanded a division under Napoleon in the Marengo campaign.

The Battle of Garris or Battle of Saint-Palais saw an Allied force under the direct command of General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess Wellington attack General of Division Jean Harispe's French division. The French defenders were driven back into the town of Saint-Palais in confusion. Because of this minor victory, the Allies were able to secure a crossing over the Bidouze River during this clash from the final stages of the Peninsular War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mansilla</span> 1808 battle of the Peninsular War

In the Battle of Mansilla or Battle of Mansilla de las Mulas on 30 December 1808 an Imperial French corps led by Nicolas Soult caught up with a Spanish corps commanded by Pedro Caro, 3rd Marquis of la Romana. Soult's cavalry under Jean Baptiste Marie Franceschi-Delonne overran la Romana's rear guard led by General Martinengo. Mansilla de las Mulas is a town located 17 kilometres (11 mi) southeast of León, Spain. The combat occurred during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invasion of Portugal (1807)</span> Franco-Spanish invasion of Portugal in 1807

An invasion of Portugal by French and Spanish forces occurred from 19–30 November 1807 during the Napoleonic Wars, sparking the Peninsular War. The Franco-Spanish invasion force was led by Jean-Andoche Junot, while the Portuguese were under the nominal command of Prince Regent John. French and Spanish troops entered Portugal and swiftly occupied it in the face of little resistance due to the poor state of the Portuguese military.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Braga (1809)</span> 1809 battle during the Peninsular War

The Battle of Braga or Battle of Póvoa de Lanhoso or Battle of Carvalho d'Este saw an Imperial French corps led by Marshal Nicolas Soult attack a Portuguese army commanded by Baron Eben. When Soult's professional soldiers attacked, the Portuguese at first fought back but soon ran away. The French slaughtered large numbers of their opponents, who were mostly badly disciplined and poorly armed militia. The action was part of the second invasion of Portugal, during the Peninsular War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Alcántara (1809)</span> 1809 battle of the Peninsular War

The Battle of Alcántara saw an Imperial French division led by Marshal Claude Perrin Victor attack a Portuguese detachment under Colonel William Mayne. After a three hours skirmish, the French stormed across the Alcántara Bridge and forced the Portuguese to retreat. The clash happened during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Alcántara, Spain is situated on the Tagus river near the Portuguese border, 285 kilometres (177 mi) west-southwest of Madrid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Arzobispo</span> 1809 battle of the Peninsular War

The Battle of Arzobispo on 8 August 1809 saw two Imperial French corps commanded by Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult launch an assault crossing of the Tagus River against a Spanish force under José María de la Cueva, 14th Duke of Alburquerque. Alburquerque's troops rapidly retreated after suffering disproportionate losses, including 30 artillery pieces. El Puente del Arzobispo is located 36 kilometres (22 mi) southwest of Talavera de la Reina, Spain. The action occurred during the Peninsular War, part of a larger conflict known as the Napoleonic Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second French invasion of Portugal</span> 1809 Invasion during the Peninsular War

The Second French invasion of Portugal, a campaign of the Peninsular War, commenced on 3 February 1809 with French Marshal Soult's II Corps heading down from La Coruña, in the north of Spain to occupy the capital of Portugal, Lisbon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Monterrey (1809)</span> 1809 battle during the Peninsular War

The Battle of Monterrey was fought during the Peninsular War outside Monterrey, Orense, in Spain. Resulting in a French victory, it took place in the early stages of Marshal Soult's Second French invasion of Portugal.

References

Bibliography

Further reading

Preceded by
Battle of Ciudad Real
Napoleonic Wars
First Battle of Porto
Succeeded by
Battle of Medellín