Battle of El Bodon

The Battle of El Bodón was fought on 25 September 1811 by elements of the Anglo-Portuguese army and elements of the French army during the Peninsular War.

Soon after the Battle of Fuentes d'Onoro, the French army withdrew from the northern frontier of Portugal, and the Duke of Wellington, with three divisions of the British Army and a corps of cavalry, blockaded Ciudad Rodrigo. In September 1811, Marshal Marmont assembled the army of the north, consisting of 60,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry, in the neighbourhood of Salamanca, and moved on Ciudad Rodrigo, for the purpose of raising the blockade.

On the approach of the French force, the British outposts were withdrawn, and Ciudad Rodrigo was relieved. The headquarters of the Duke of Wellington were at that time established at Fuente Guinaldo, a village about 9 miles (14 km) in the rear of Ciudad Rodrigo. The battalion on guard at the headquarters was the 2nd battalion of the 5th Foot was ordered to march to the front and reinforce two brigades of Portuguese artillery and a squadron of cavalry positioned about 3 miles (4.8 km) from Ciudad Rodrigo.

About 3 miles (4.8 km) to the right of that location was the village of El Bodón, which was occupied by the third division, under Sir Thomas Picton. The light division occupied the ground between the village of El Bodón and the river Águeda, on which its right rested. The fourth and only remaining division was in rear of Fuente Guinaldo, occupying different villages, and not brought into position.

Major Henry Ridge of the 2nd/5th Foot recalled:

In consequence of guns being attached to us, I became the senior officer, and having received no orders, whether to retire if attacked (by a superior force), or to defend our post to the last extremity, I thought it prudent, in the first instance, to take the best means in my power to prevent a surprise, and planted the pickets accordingly. Feeling myself in a very responsible situation, I visited the pickets at daybreak, when I discovered large bodies of the enemy's cavalry coming out of Ciudad Rodrigo, and crossing the Agueda.

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