Battle of Almaraz

Part of the Peninsular War

Date	18/19 May 1812
Location	Almaraz, Spain
Result	Anglo-Portuguese victory

Belligerents

United Kingdom

Portugal

French Empire

Commanders and leaders

Lord Hill

Colonel Aubert †

Strength

6,000
9 guns

1,000

Casualties and losses

33 killed
148 wounded

150 killed & wounded
259 captured

The Battle of Almaraz was a battle of the Peninsular War which took place on 18/19 May 1812, in which the Anglo-Portuguese Army under Lord Hill destroyed a French pontoon bridge across the River Tagus, in Almaraz, Spain. The bridge was protected by two French garrisons at either end.

The action was swift-moving, deceptive, and daring. The decisive result produced a substantial improvement in the Allied position by keeping French forces separated ahead of the imminent Battle of Salamanca.

By late April 1812, the Duke of Wellington had successfully captured the strategic border fortresses of Badajoz and Cuidad Rodrigo, commanding the two major routes between Spain and Portugal. He now prepared to advance into Spain with the largest army he had commanded to date, which was strong enough to take on any French army. There were two French armies in Spain, however: Marmont’s Army of Portugal, garrisoned near Salamanca, and Soult’s Army of the South. The Tagus River separated the two armies.

The only bridges over the Tagus were at Toledo, Talavera, Arzobispo, Almaraz, and Alcántara. The Alcántara Bridge was destroyed by the Portuguese, under Col. Mayne, on 14 May 1809. The bridges at Toledo, Talavera, and Arzobispo were under French control but, according to Napier, the left bank of the Tagus at Talavera and Arzobispo was "so crowded by the rugged shoots of the Sierra de Guadalupe, that it may be broadly stated as impassable for an army". Any artillery and heavy baggage moving between the two armies would have to cross at Toledo or Almaraz.

The latter bridge, built by the city of Plasencia under the reign of Emperor Charles V in the 16th Century and known by the local people as the Albalat Bridge, was partially destroyed by the Spanish on 14 March 1809, to prevent its use by the French. The Portuguese under Colonel Mayne destroyed the bridge at Alcantara on 14 May 1809, for the same reason. The French built a pontoon bridge in the autumn of 1809, just west of the Albalat bridge. It was about 200 metres long and built with heavy pontoons. The central span was a light boat, designed to be removed at night for security.

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Wikipedia