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Battle Of Braga (1809)
The Battle of Braga or Battle of Póvoa de Lanhoso or Battle of Carvalho d'Este (20 March 1809) 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. After the Battle of Corunna and the British evacuation of northwest Spain, Soult turned his attention to the invasion of Portugal. Fighting their way through swarms of Spanish guerillas, Soult's troops crossed the border into Portugal in early March 1809. After capturing Chaves, Soult's II Corps encountered a horde of unruly militiamen who had just assassinated their commander. The subsequent easy French victory did not discourage the Portuguese resistance. Meanwhile, another P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, it is considered to overlap with the Spanish War of Independence. The war can be said to have started when the First French Empire, French and History of Spain (1808–1874), Spanish armies Invasion of Portugal (1807), invaded and occupied Portugal in 1807 by transiting through Kingdom of Spain (1810-1873), Spain, but it escalated in 1808 after First French Empire, Napoleonic France occupied History of Spain (1808–1874), Spain, which had been its ally. Napoleon Bonaparte Abdications of Bayonne, forced the abdications of Ferdinand VII of Spain, Ferdinand VII and his father Charles IV of Spain, Charles IV and then installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne and promulgated the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Battle Of Porto
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 (later named 1st Duke of Wellington, Marquess Douro) 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. This battle ended the Second French invasion of Portugal. Soult soon found his retreat route to the east blocked and was forced to destroy his guns and burn his baggage train. Wellesley pursued the French army, but Soult's army escaped annihilation by fleeing through the mountains. Background The Second Portuguese campaign had started with the Battle of Braga. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaves, Portugal
Chaves (), officially the City of Chaves (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in the north of Portugal. It is 10 km south of the Portugal-Spain border, Spanish border and 22 km south of Verín (Spain). The population of the entire municipality in 2011 was 41,243, in an area of 591.23 km2. The municipality is the second most populous of the district of Vila Real (district), Vila Real (the district capital, Vila Real Municipality, Vila Real, is 60 km south on the A24 motorway). With origins in the Ancient Rome, Roman civitas Aquae Flaviae, Aquæ Flaviæ, Chaves has developed into a regional center. The urban area or city proper has 17,535 residents (2001). History Artefacts discovered in the region of Chaves identify the earliest settlement of humans dating back to the Paleolithic. Remnants discovered in Mairos, Pastoria and São Lourenço, those associated with transient proto-historic settlements and Castro culture, castros, show a human presence in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guerillas
Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism, Raid (military), raids, petty warfare or hit-and-run tactics in a rebellion, in a violence, violent conflict, in a war or in a civil war to fight against regular military, police or rival insurgency, insurgent forces. Although the term "guerrilla warfare" was coined in the context of the Peninsular War in the 19th century, the tactical methods of guerrilla warfare have long been in use. In the 6th century Anno Domini, BC, Sun Tzu proposed the use of guerrilla-style tactics in ''The Art of War''. The 3rd century BC Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus is also credited with inventing many of the tactics of guerrilla warfare through what is today called the Fabian strategy, and in Chin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Corunna
The Battle of Corunna (or ''A Coruña'', ''La Corunna'', ''La Coruña'' or ''La Corogne''), 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 John Moore (British soldier), Sir John Moore. The battle took place during the Peninsular War, which was part of the wider Napoleonic Wars. Doggedly pursued by the French under Soult, the British retreated across northern Spain while their rearguard fought off repeated French attacks. Both armies suffered from the harsh winter conditions. Much of the British army, excluding the elite Light Division, Light Brigade under Robert Craufurd, suffered from a loss of order and discipline during the retreat. When the British eventually reached the port of A Coruña, Corunna on the northern coast of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, a few days ahead of the French, they found their transport ships had not arrived. The fleet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second French Invasion Of Portugal
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. Napoleon later modified his original plan by ordering Marshal Victor's I Corps, based at Mérida, to send a column commanded by General Lapisse, located in Salamanca, to march westwards, first on Ciudad Rodrigo and then on to Almeida, in Portugal.The Emperor's new orders, sent from Valladolid on 17 January, also afforded Soult some slight concession in the matter of dates. Instead of having to reach Porto on 1 February, Soult was granted four extra days, and he was then expected to reach Lisbon on the sixteenth instead of the tenth. (Oman, 1903: p. 175.) The campaign came to an end following the French defeat by Anglo-Portuguese forces at the Second Battle of Porto (12 May 1809), with Soult's army dispersed and having to abandon large amo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Militia
A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or serve as a pool of available manpower for regular forces to draw from. When acting independently, militias are generally unable to hold ground against regular forces. Militias commonly support regular troops by skirmishing, holding fortifications, or conducting irregular warfare, instead of undertaking offensive campaigns by themselves. However, militias may also engage in defense activities to protect a community, its territory, property, and laws. For example, naval militias may comprise fishermen and other civilians which are organized and sanctioned by a state to enforce its maritime boundaries. Beginning in the late 20th century, some militias (in particular officially recognized and sanctioned militias of a government) act as profe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicolas Soult
Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman. He was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and served three times as President of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) of France. Son of a country notary from southern France, Soult enlisted in the French Royal Army in 1785 and quickly rose through the ranks during the French Revolution. He was promoted to brigadier general after distinguishing himself at the Battle of Fleurus in 1794, and by 1799 he was a division general. In 1804, Napoleon made Soult one of his first eighteen Marshals of the Empire. Soult played a key role in many of Napoleon's campaigns, most notably at the Battle of Austerlitz, where his corps delivered the decisive attack that secured French victory. He was subsequently created Duke of Dalmatia and from 1808, he commanded French forces during the Peninsular War. Despite several initial victories, for ins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marshal Of France
Marshal of France (, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to General officer, generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1793–1804) and for a period dormant (1870–1916). It was one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France during the and Bourbon Restoration in France, Bourbon Restoration, and one of the Grand Dignitaries of the French Empire, Grand Dignitaries of the Empire during the First French Empire (when the title was Marshal of the Empire, not Marshal of France). A Marshal of France displays seven stars on each shoulder strap. A marshal also receives a Baton (military), baton – a blue cylinder with stars, formerly fleur-de-lis, fleurs-de-lis during the monarchy and French Imperial Eagle, eagles during the First French Empire. The baton bears the Latin inscription of ', which means "terror in war, ornament in peace". Between the end of the 16th century a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Fuentes De Oñoro
At the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro (3–5 May 1811), 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. A bloody stalemate was not the sort of battle that had been expected to follow André Masséna's expulsion from Portugal. His confidence and moral authority having been much boosted by holding the Lines of Torres Vedras, the spring of 1811 found Wellington intending to move over to the offensive, for which policy he had received de facto authorisation from his political masters in London, where talks of major reductions in the size of the army employed in Portugal had been replaced by promises of major reinforcements. Supply difficulties, sickness amongst the troops and want of siege artillery ensured that in the short term no great strokes of strategy could be envisaged, but it was hoped that Almeida, Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz might be all recaptured, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Sabugal
The Battle of Sabugal was an engagement of the Peninsular War which took place on 3 April 1811 between Anglo-Portuguese forces under Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) and French troops under the command of Marshal André Masséna. It was the last of many skirmishes between Masséna's retreating French forces and those of the Anglo-Portuguese under Wellington, who were pursuing him after the failed 1810 French invasion of Portugal. In poor weather, with heavy rain and fog, Allied forces succeeded in forcing the demoralized French force into retreat. The victory was lauded by the British; Sir Harry Smith, then a junior officer of the 95th Rifles and a participant in the battle, remarked "Oh, you Kings and usurpers should view these scenes and moderate ambition" while Wellesley later referred to the Light Division's action in the battle as "one of the most glorious that British troops were ever engaged in". Background By October 1810, Marshal Massena's Fren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Redinha
The Battle of Redinha was a rearguard action which took place on March 12, 1811, during Masséna's retreat from Portugal, by a French division under Marshal Ney against a considerably larger Anglo-Portuguese force under Wellington. Challenging the Allies with only one or two divisions, Ney's 7,000 troops were pitched against 25,000 men. In a typical rearguard action, Ney delayed the Allied advance for a day and bought valuable time for the withdrawal of the main body of the French army. Redinha was the second and most successful rearguard action fought during Masséna's retreat from the Lines of Torres Vedras in the spring of 1811. Having held off the British at Pombal on 11 March, Marshal Ney and the French rearguard had retreated to Redinha. Here he took up an apparently vulnerable position, with Mermet's division on a plateau south of the village, and Marchand's division north of the village on the far side of the Ancos River, linked by a narrow bridge, but Wellington wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
